Lab leak likely caused pandemic, Energy Department says

The conclusion, which was reached with "little confidence", came as US intelligence agencies remained divided over the origins of the coronavirus.< /p>

WASHINGTON — New information has prompted the Department of Energy to conclude that an accidental lab leak in China most likely caused the coronavirus pandemic, although the US spy agencies remain divided over the origins of the virus, US officials said on Sunday.

The finding was a shift from the department's earlier position that he was undecided on how the virus emerged.

Some officials briefed on the intelligence said it was relatively weak and the Department of Energy's conclusion was made with "low confidence" e", suggesting that his level of certainty was not high. Although the department shared the information with other agencies, none of them changed its findings, officials said. But much of the Department of Energy's knowledge comes from its network of national laboratories, some of which conduct biological research, rather than from more traditional forms of intelligence like spy networks or communications interceptions.

Intelligence officials say scrutinizing the early stages of the pandemic could be important to improving the global response to future health crises, though they warn it may be difficult , if not impossible, to find an answer about the source of the virus given Chinese opposition to further research. Scientists say it is their responsibility to explain how a pandemic that has killed nearly seven million people began, and knowing more about its origins could help researchers understand what poses the greatest threats to future outbreaks.

The new intelligence and the department's change in views were first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan declined to confirm the information. But he said President Biden had ordered national labs to be involved in the effort to determine the origins of the outbreak so the government would use "every tool" at its disposal.

In addition to the Department of Energy, the F.B.I. also concluded, with moderate confidence, that the virus first emerged accidentally from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a Chinese laboratory that has worked on coronaviruses. Four other intelligence agencies and the National Intelligence Council have concluded, with little confidence, that the virus most likely arose through natural transmission, the director of the office of national intelligence announced in October 2021.

Mr. Sullivan said those divisions remained.

"There are a variety of viewpoints in the intelligence community," he said Sunday on "the State of the Union" from CNN. “Some elements of the intelligence community came to conclusions on one side, others on the other. A number of them said they simply did not have enough information to be safe."

Mr. Sullivan said if more information is learned, the administration will share it with Congress and the public. no definitive answer has emerged from the intelligence community on this issue," he said.

Some scientists believe that current evidence, including genes of the virus, says a large food and live animal market in Wuhan is the most likely place where the coronavirus originated.

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