BOMB! Lab linked to Covid leak in Wuhan, China, may have released deadly 2014 polio virus, new study claims

(MENAFN- AsiaNet News) A groundbreaking new study suggests that a sophisticated strain of polio that infected a four-year-old boy during a virus outbreak in China's Anhui province in 2014 may have originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). The research, conducted by the Pasteur Institute in France, found that this strain, dubbed “WIV14,” is “99 percent” genetically identical to a polio variant stored in the notorious Wuhan laboratory, just 320 kilometers from Anhui. This revelation has raised fresh alarm about the safety protocols of the Chinese lab, which is already under intense scrutiny for its suspected role in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mysterious polio strain discovered

The study's findings focus on the WIV14 strain, which was first identified in a stool sample from the infected child in 2014. The child had been diagnosed during an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease in the region. Although polio and the virus that caused the outbreak are both enteroviruses and have similar routes of infection, the discovery of WIV14 in the boy came as a shock to researchers. Genetic analysis revealed that the WIV14 strain bore astonishing similarities to the “Saukett A” strain, a polio variant developed in the 1950s and widely used in laboratories to make vaccines.

(Photos of the box sent by A. Sabin to A. Lwoff (a), the four vials after their contents were transferred to other tubes (b) and the vial labels (c). Image credit: Virus Evolution)

Wuhan laboratory under observation

Researchers at the Pasteur Institute cannot say definitively where the WIV14 strain came from, but offer two possible theories that “need to be investigated.” One possibility suggests that the strain leaked from a laboratory facility, specifically the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where it was catalogued and stored. Dr. Richard Ebright, a Harvard-trained molecular biologist who was not involved in the study, stressed that the findings point to significant biosecurity concerns in global virology research. He further explained that the proximity of the Wuhan laboratory, notorious for lax safety protocols, to the site of the Anhui polio outbreak supports the theory that WIV14 could have leaked from the laboratory.

If confirmed, this revelation would add to growing criticism of China's state-run infectious disease labs. In 2023, the Biden administration cut U.S. funding to the Wuhan Institute due to concerns about safety practices and its possible involvement in the COVID-19 pandemic. Capitol Hill has continued to scrutinize the Chinese lab for its alleged role in the global health crisis.

(Temperature sensitivity of two viruses. The temperature sensitivity of the viruses was determined by titrating virus stocks at 25 °C and 37 °C on RD cells. The mean of two experiments is shown, with diamonds indicating the titer of each replicate. Source: Virus Evolution)

Variety comparison: Genetic similarities

The Pasteur researchers compared the entire genome of the WIV14 strain with the Saukett A strain, which is often used to make inactivated polio vaccines. They found only 70 nucleotide differences between the two, meaning the strains were more than 99 percent identical. This extreme similarity has led researchers to suspect that there have been several undocumented leaks of poliovirus from labs over the years.

Wuhan virologists had previously theorized that the four-year-old boy had been infected with a mutated form of Sabin 3, a strain used in oral polio vaccines. However, the Pasteur Institute team vehemently rejected this hypothesis. Their research found that WIV14 and Sabin 3 differ significantly across much of their genome, in contrast to the much closer relationship between WIV14 and Saukett A. The Pasteur Institute researchers concluded that the Wuhan group's explanation was “unlikely.”

Two plausible theories

Dr. Maël Bessaud, head of the Poliovirus Tracking Center at the Pasteur Institute, and his team have outlined two possible origins of the WIV14 strain. The first theory suggests that the strain could be the result of cross-contamination in the Wuhan laboratory, leading to a false positive for a new polio strain in the four-year-old boy's sample. In this case, WIV14 would have been a slightly mutated version of the Saukett A strain that had leaked from the Wuhan facility.

The second theory suggests that the child was actually infected with WIV14, which could have come from a facility or natural reservoir where it had been dormant for decades. If true, that would mean that the lab release did not necessarily occur at the Wuhan Institute, but somewhere else in China.

(Pairwise comparison of the genome of PV-3 strain WIV14 (a) and PV-3 strain Saukett_A_NIBSC (b) with other PV-3 strains: Sabin 3, Saukett_NIBSC, 60 212, ISR_1975-08, SWI10947 (GenBank accession number AY184221, KP247597, FJ842158, OP137288, and FJ914252, respectively. Source: Virus Evolution)

Impact on global biosecurity

Regardless of which hypothesis proves correct, the study highlights the broader problem of biosafety in medical and research laboratories worldwide. Dr. Ebright argued that the findings underscore the “appallingly high frequency of incidents in virology research” that pose significant risks to public health. He called for more stringent national and international oversight of biosafety, biosecurity and risk management protocols.

The management of deadly viruses and pathogens like polio has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. Polio, once a global scourge, has been largely eradicated through vaccination efforts. But the virus has resurfaced in conflict zones like Gaza, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as in unexpected places like the United States, where it was detected over 70 times in sewage samples in New York in 2022.

A global concern

The possibility of a lab leak with an advanced strain of polio echoes the fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and the suspected role of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in its creation. As with COVID-19, the question of whether a lab accident could have released a deadly pathogen into the population continues to generate debate. The Pasteur Institute study calls for further investigation into the origins of WIV14 and highlights the need for vigilance in regulating virological research on a global scale.

As the world still grapples with the aftershocks of the pandemic, the possibility of another virus escaping from a lab underscores the urgent need for enhanced biosecurity measures. Dr. Ebright's final assessment of the findings is clear: “Whether through contamination or lab release, the situation requires urgent reform to prevent future public health emergencies.”

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