Coronavirus: Global health experts advise WHO to identify animal source of virus

02 Mai 2020

Geneva, Switzerland, May 2 (Infosplusgabon) - International experts have advised the World Health Organization (WHO) to work to identify animal origins of the virus behind the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its transmission to humans, the UN agency said here Friday.

The recommendation was among outcomes of the latest meeting of the Emergency Committee on the new disease, established under global health regulations, a UN statement said.

“We accept the committee’s advice that WHO works to identify the animal source of the virus through international scientific and collaborative missions, in collaboration with the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,” WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during his regular virtual press conference from Geneva.

A statement from the Emergency Committee advised that the partners also identify “the route of introduction to the human population, including the possible role of intermediate hosts…which will enable targeted interventions and a research agenda to reduce the risk of similar events”.

In total, the committee outlined more than 20 recommendations for WHO covering areas that include stepping up support for vulnerable countries and strengthening the global food supply chain.

Guidance on the resumption of international travel was also suggested.

“This is a difficult issue because it’s a question of confidence between Member States,” said Professor Didier Houssin, chair of the 15-member committee, made up of health experts from across the globe.

“It’s a question of safe travel, but it’s also very important aspect for the activities in many countries which are relying very much on air travel.”

The statement said the Emergency Committee also offered advice to the international community, namely to support the WHO leadership and to work with the agency and its partners to interrupt transmission of the new coronavirus.

Prof. Houssin called for research to reduce “knowledge gaps”, among other recommendations.

“We know too little about the transmission of the virus. We have, at the moment, nothing for prevention with vaccines, and we have no licensed therapeutics. This should change,” he said.

In another development, the European Commission will Monday host a pledging conference to generate funds for COVID-19 vaccine research, in line with a recently launched global collaboration to make medicines to diagnose and treat all people, known as the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator.

Dr. Tedros had convened the Emergency Committee on Thursday, three months after its last meeting where the burgeoning COVID-19 outbreak was declared an international public health emergency.

At the time, there were less than 100 cases, and no deaths, outside China, the country where the disease was first reported.

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic on 11 March. As of Friday, cases topped three million globally, with more than 224,000 deaths.

The Emergency Committee will reconvene within 90 days.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/UIO/GABON2020

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