There is no evidence that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID, came from animals, the former head of China’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday, Reuters reported.

George Gao, who spoke at a summit in London on pandemic preparedness, led the agency when COVID first emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.

“Even now, people think that some animals are a host or a reservoir,” Gao said. “In short, there is no evidence that the animals were the source of the virus.”

The origins of the COVID-19 pandemic remain unknown, and China has been accused of obstructing efforts to learn more. The Chinese government said it has always supported all efforts to investigate the source.

The World Health Organization said all hypotheses about the origin of COVID-19 remain valid, including that the virus is linked to a high-security laboratory for the study of dangerous pathogens in Wuhan.

China denies any such connection.

The WHO also said that available evidence suggests that the virus originated in animals, probably from bats.

Last month, Chinese scientists uploaded data on the first days of the pandemic to a global database.

This included genetic sequences found in more than 1,000 environmental and animal samples taken in January 2020 at Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan.

The data showed that DNA from several animal species, including the raccoon dog, was present in environmental samples that tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, suggesting they were the “most likely carriers” of the disease , according to the data. a team of international researchers.