The CIA has revised its assessment regarding the origins of COVID-19, now stating it is “more likely” that the virus emerged from a lab rather than from natural sources, albeit with “low confidence” in this conclusion. This shift follows years of uncertainty, during which the agency indicated it could not determine the virus’s origin.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology

The review, first reported by the New York Times, was initiated in the final weeks of the Biden administration under former CIA Director William Burns, who emphasized the importance of a clear determination due to the pandemic’s historical significance.

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While the CIA joins the FBI and the Department of Energy in suggesting a lab leak, several other intelligence community elements still support the natural origin theory.

The Chinese government has rejected the lab leak theory, accusing the U.S. of politicizing the investigation into COVID-19’s origins. A spokesperson for the China called the CIA’s conclusion “misleading” and not based on “substantial evidence,” telling Reuters that “the source of the virus is a complex scientific issue, and scientists and experts should find the answer through rigorous and meticulous scientific research, rather than being judged by politicians.”

CIA Director John Ratcliffe has stated this topic is a priority for his agency, asserting that evidence supports the lab leak hypothesis.

“My informed assessment, as a person with as much or more access than anyone to our government’s intelligence during the initial year of the virus outbreak and pandemic onset, has been and continues to be that a lab leak is the only explanation credibly supported by our intelligence, by science and by common sense,” Ratcliffe testified to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in 2023. “In fact, were this a trial, the preponderance of circumstantial evidence provided by our intelligence would compel a jury finding of guilt to an accusation that the coronavirus research in the Wuhan labs was responsible for spawning a global pandemic.”

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