CIA says lab leak most likely source of Covid-19

The CIA now says the deadly Covid pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak in the first major move by its new director, a close ally of Donald Trump.

The Central Intelligence Agency has now concluded that the deadly Covid pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak, according to a statement issued by the agency.

The CIA has now joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Energy Department in identifying the likely source of the Covid-19 virus as a laboratory mishap in Wuhan, China, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Virologist Shi Zheng-li in the P4 lab of Wuhan Institute of Virology. Picture: Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images

“CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the Covid-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin based on the available body of reporting,” an agency spokesman said in a statement.

The spokesman clarified that the judgement was “low confidence” and that the CIA would continue to evaluate “any available credible new intelligence reporting or open-source information that could change CIA’s assessment.”

Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe is sworn in as CIA Director by Vice President JD Vance in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Picture: AFP

The agency previously said it did not have enough information to determine the cause.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology has faced scrutiny over its research into bat coronaviruses and alleged lapses in security.

In a world exclusive in 2020, former Daily Telegraph national political editor Sharri Markson revealed a 15-page dossier compiled by the so-called “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance, which stated that China intentionally hid or destroyed evidence of the coronavirus outbreak.

John Ratcliffe, the new director of the CIA, has long said he thought the lab leak theory was the most likely source rather than the theory that virus leapt from an animal to a human, the WSJ said.

Mr Ratcliffe testified before the House Select Subcommittee in 2023 that he and other Trump officials had encountered “illegitimate roadblocks” when looking into the cause of the virus.

Estimates from the World Health Organisation last year showed the full global death toll associated directly or indirectly with the Covid-19 pandemic between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 was approximately 14.9 million.

Originally published as CIA says lab leak most likely source of Covid-19