WHO in talks with China to send mission to investigate source of coronavirus outbreak

A World Health Organisation (WHO) official said on Wednesday the UN agency is in talks with China to send its fourth mission to the country in order to investigate the zoonotic source of the coronavirus outbreak.

Scientists believe the virus emerged from a wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Previous research has shown that coronavirus likely originated in bats and jumped to an intermediate host before infecting people. However, scientists were unable to determine which species the virus originated.

Understanding the origin of the virus is “critical because without knowing where the animal origin is it’s difficult for us to prevent this from happening again.” said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit.