＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
<Added February 27, 2023> Report: U.S. Department of Energy Determines COVID-19 Origin “May Have Leaked from Chinese Laboratory”
The following report was published by Asahi Shimbun Digital.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 26th that the U.S. Department of Energy has determined that the origin of the novel coronavirus likely was a Chinese laboratory leak. Based on newly classified information, the report was reported to the White House and U.S. Congressional leaders. However, opinions are divided within the U.S. government, with some agencies favoring the animal-transmitted-to-human theory.
According to the WSJ, the Department of Energy has determined that the virus spread through an accident at a Chinese laboratory, although with “low confidence.” The Department of Energy oversees the U.S. National Laboratory, which also conducts cutting-edge biological research, and claims to have “considerable scientific expertise.”
Among other government agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also supports the laboratory leak theory. The National Intelligence Council and four other agencies support the animal-mediated theory, while two other agencies, including the CIA, have not yet decided which theory to support.
What is the source of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) currently raging around the world?
Initially, the prevailing theory was that it originated from bats sold at the South China Seafood Market in Wuhan, China. However, recent comments by U.S. President Trump at a press conference, “There are suspicions about the Wuhan Institute of Virology. We are conducting a thorough investigation,” casting doubt on this theory as well.
In this article, I would like to review what is currently known about the various theories regarding the origin of this novel coronavirus pneumonia.
1. Various Theories Regarding the Origin of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia
(1) Bat Origin Theory
One theory is that the virus originated from bats sold at the South China Seafood Market in Wuhan, China.
Wuhan city health authorities initially explained that “human-to-human transmission cannot be ruled out, but the risk is relatively low.” If this is the case, it seems safe for anyone other than those who visited the South China Seafood Market and came into contact with bats. This seems to be one of the reasons why the response was delayed.
Then, on January 20th, the head of the Chinese expert team stated, “There is no doubt that human-to-human transmission is occurring.”
By March 1st, the joint WHO-China expert team released an investigation report that “almost certainly confirmed that bats were the source of infection.”
In China, bats are considered to be auspicious animals and a sign of good fortune, so it would be ironic if they were the source of the disease.
(2) Theory that it is a Chinese biological weapon
On January 26, the Washington Times reported that “secret research and development at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, may be involved.” This theory was proposed by an Israeli expert studying Chinese biological weapons.
The background to this theory is as follows:
First, a February 2017 article in the scientific journal Nature expressed concerns by American experts about the safety of the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory.
Second, when the SARS outbreak occurred in Beijing in 2004, the source of infection was the SARS coronavirus, which was kept in a BSL-3 laboratory at the National Institute of Virology in Beijing and then used in experiments in a public laboratory.
(3) The theory that the US military brought the virus to Wuhan, China.
This theory originated from a March 12 reference by Chinese spokesperson Zhao Lijian, amid a war of words between the US and China over the spread of the novel coronavirus pneumonia.
This comment came in response to US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien’s criticism of the Chinese government’s cover-up of information about the outbreak.
The allegation seems to be that one or more US military personnel, unaware that they were infected with the novel coronavirus pneumonia, visited Wuhan to participate in an international sporting event in October 2019 and infected people in Wuhan.
(4) Theory that the virus accidentally leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology (officially known as the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) is a Chinese research institute for infectious diseases and virology established in 1956. The institute houses the China Center for Typical Culture Preservation, Asia’s largest virus storage facility, housing over 1,500 virus strains.
The Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (commonly known as the Wuhan P4 Lab) is an affiliated facility. Completed in January 2015, it officially began operations in January 2018. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the laboratory was actively promoting itself, and the then-French prime minister visited it in February 2017. It appears to be conducting research on bat coronaviruses.
This laboratory is considered to be capable of handling “Pathogen Level 4 (P4)” pathogens, ensuring the highest level of safety.
The conservative opinion magazine “Will” has argued that virus research weapons, which China had been independently developing, may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The reason for this is that the laboratory is located only about 30 km from the Wuhan Seafood Market where the outbreak originated, and is the only designated laboratory in China for researching the pathogens of Ebola and SARS.
It is possible that a researcher at the laboratory went to the market without realizing that he or she was infected with COVID-19 and infected others.
On January 24, the British medical journal The Lancet published a paper stating that, after analyzing the conditions of 41 patients admitted to Wuhan’s Jinyintan Hospital (which has been treating patients since the outbreak of the new pneumonia), “it was found that 13 of the first and 41 early infected patients had not been to the Huanan Seafood Market, which is believed to be the source of the new virus.” Huang Chaolin, vice director of Jinyintan Hospital and lead author of the paper, stated, “Based on the current overall developments, it appears that there are multiple sources of infection, not just the Huanan Seafood Market.”
On April 14, the Washington Post reported that “when U.S. government officials visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2018, they sent a diplomatic cable expressing concern that the bat coronavirus research was inadequate in safety measures.”
While no malicious intent was apparent, I believe that strict safety management, such as requiring researchers to wear protective clothing to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and daily checks on researchers for infection, is essential for laboratories researching such dangerous pathogens.
It appears that there are laboratories in Japan that are storing the Ebola hemorrhagic fever pathogen, and I urge them to take strict safety management measures seriously.
2. Sources of SARS, MERS, and the Spanish Flu (For reference)
(1) SARS
The source of SARS is believed to be palm civets, hunted for food in parts of China. The outbreak stopped as soon as palm civets were removed from the market.
However, in addition to palm civets, many wild animals, such as bats and raccoon dogs, carry coronaviruses similar to the SARS coronavirus, and these animals are also suspected as sources of infection.
(2) MERS
The source of MERS is believed to be dromedary camels. Humans became infected through direct or indirect contact with infected dromedaries, and the infection then spread from person to person.
(3) Spanish Flu
The Spanish flu virus was the H1N1 strain of influenza A. One of the strains of seasonal influenza seen today is a mutation of this virus.
The source of infection is believed to have been the barracks at Funston Army Base in Kansas, USA. The infection spread worldwide with the deployment of US troops to Europe during World War I.