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WHO team focuses on virus from animals

The initial spread of the coronavirus among people most likely originated from an animal and not from a Chinese lab, WHO-led scientists told journalists.

A screenshot of WHO's webcast press briefing from Wuhan, China
A screenshot of WHO's webcast press briefing from Wuhan, China (AN/WHO)

The initial spread of the coronavirus among people most likely originated from an animal and not from a Chinese lab, World Health Organization-led scientists told a news conference on Tuesday.

The team of international and Chinese scientists told a highly anticipated press briefing from Wuhan, China, that they could not conclude whether the virus has jumped directly from an animal to humans or through an intermediary host such as a bamboo rat or pangolin, but it was "extremely unlikely" that it spread from an accident in a Chinese lab.

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