Federal Register or official government announcement

House Panel: COVID-19 Likely from Wuhan Lab Leak; DOJ Secretly Probed EcoHealth Alliance

Dec 3, 2024, 02:40 PM

The U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has released its final report, concluding that COVID-19 likely originated from a laboratory leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, following gain-of-function research. The two-year bipartisan investigation cites evidence supporting the lab leak theory, including biological characteristics of the virus not found in nature and the absence of multiple zoonotic spillover events. The subcommittee also revealed that the Department of Justice had secretly convened a grand jury to investigate EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organization that funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab; the status of this investigation remains unclear. The report criticizes U.S. health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, for discrediting the lab leak theory and promoting the natural origin narrative, and calls for accountability and oversight in public health systems.