<p>The search for the origins of the Covid pandemic that has killed millions and crippled economies is at a standstill even as time is running out, scientists charged with the task by the UN warned Wednesday.</p>.<p>An initial report by the World Health Organization (WHO) team based on a January mission to Wuhan, China -- ground zero of the global pandemic -- concluded that the SARS-CoV-2 virus probably jumped from bats to humans via an intermediate animal.</p>.<p>A competing hypothesis that the virus leaked from a specialised virology lab in Wuhan was deemed "extremely unlikely".</p>.<p>But in a comment in the journal Nature, the scientists said that mission was only intended as a "first step in a process that has stalled."</p>.<p>"The search for the origins of SARS-CoV-2 is at a critical juncture," they wrote.</p>.<p>"The window of opportunity for conducting this crucial enquiry is closing fast."</p>.<p>Tracing the biological trail back to the earliest pockets of the disease becomes more difficult as evidence disappears or becomes corrupted.</p>.<p>The statement comes less than two weeks after the WHO, in a bid to revive the probe, urged China to hand over information on the earliest Covid-19 cases.</p>.<p>This should include Covid data for 174 infections identified in December 2019 that China failed to share during the initial investigation, the WHO experts said.</p>.<p>WHO investigators said "it was agreed" at the time that a second phase of research would fill in this gap.</p>.<p>But China pushed back against the WHO request earlier this month, saying the January investigation should suffice and that calls for further data were motivated by politics, not science.</p>.<p>Beijing has especially bridled at the suggestion that the virus might have escaped from the Wuhan virology lab.</p>.<p>On Tuesday US intelligence agencies presented President Joe Biden with a report looking at both the animal transmission and "lab-leak" hypotheses. The findings were described as inconclusive.</p>.<p>In its comment, the WHO team notes that current data does not support the lab-leak scenario.</p>.<p>None of six priorities for further research alluded to this possibility.</p>.<p>Rather, the scientists emphasised the need to trace the earliest cases of Covid through disease reporting and antibody surveys, inside and outside China.</p>.<p>They also called for further investigation of wildlife farms and wild bats.</p>.<p>"As SARS-CoV-2 antibodies wane, so collecting further samples and testing people who might have been exposed before December 2019 will yield diminishing returns," they said.</p>.<p>It added that many of the wildlife farms of interest for study have been closed and their livestock killed.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>
<p>The search for the origins of the Covid pandemic that has killed millions and crippled economies is at a standstill even as time is running out, scientists charged with the task by the UN warned Wednesday.</p>.<p>An initial report by the World Health Organization (WHO) team based on a January mission to Wuhan, China -- ground zero of the global pandemic -- concluded that the SARS-CoV-2 virus probably jumped from bats to humans via an intermediate animal.</p>.<p>A competing hypothesis that the virus leaked from a specialised virology lab in Wuhan was deemed "extremely unlikely".</p>.<p>But in a comment in the journal Nature, the scientists said that mission was only intended as a "first step in a process that has stalled."</p>.<p>"The search for the origins of SARS-CoV-2 is at a critical juncture," they wrote.</p>.<p>"The window of opportunity for conducting this crucial enquiry is closing fast."</p>.<p>Tracing the biological trail back to the earliest pockets of the disease becomes more difficult as evidence disappears or becomes corrupted.</p>.<p>The statement comes less than two weeks after the WHO, in a bid to revive the probe, urged China to hand over information on the earliest Covid-19 cases.</p>.<p>This should include Covid data for 174 infections identified in December 2019 that China failed to share during the initial investigation, the WHO experts said.</p>.<p>WHO investigators said "it was agreed" at the time that a second phase of research would fill in this gap.</p>.<p>But China pushed back against the WHO request earlier this month, saying the January investigation should suffice and that calls for further data were motivated by politics, not science.</p>.<p>Beijing has especially bridled at the suggestion that the virus might have escaped from the Wuhan virology lab.</p>.<p>On Tuesday US intelligence agencies presented President Joe Biden with a report looking at both the animal transmission and "lab-leak" hypotheses. The findings were described as inconclusive.</p>.<p>In its comment, the WHO team notes that current data does not support the lab-leak scenario.</p>.<p>None of six priorities for further research alluded to this possibility.</p>.<p>Rather, the scientists emphasised the need to trace the earliest cases of Covid through disease reporting and antibody surveys, inside and outside China.</p>.<p>They also called for further investigation of wildlife farms and wild bats.</p>.<p>"As SARS-CoV-2 antibodies wane, so collecting further samples and testing people who might have been exposed before December 2019 will yield diminishing returns," they said.</p>.<p>It added that many of the wildlife farms of interest for study have been closed and their livestock killed.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>