A researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), suspected of being the first human to be infected with the novel coronavirus, was being funded by US taxpayers for dangerous gain-of-function research, a watchdog group said last week. clarified.
Ben Hu, who the public reported was one of three WIV researchers who contracted COVID-19 in late 2019, is the chief of a grant funded by the American taxpayer and given to WIV. was listed as a researcher. The White Court Waste Project (WCW) Revealed. The total amount sent to Hu’s lab has not been made public, but the 2021 FOIA request submitted by WCW indicated that the project Hu was involved in was funded by NIAID and USAID, which was led by Dr. Anthony Fauci at the time. It was revealed that he received more than $41 million. .
Ben Hu of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, who has conducted extensive laboratory studies of how coronaviruses infect humans, identified the novel coronavirus infection in November 2019, according to a U.S. intelligence report. I got sick with matching symptoms. oh. https://t.co/PYgPVlxZDz@WSJ
— Josh Rogin (@josrogin) June 20, 2023
Hu reportedly played a “central role” in the gain-of-function research being conducted at WIV. Researchers there collected bat-based coronavirus samples from the wild and genetically modified them to make them more dangerous to humans.
Proponents of the “lab leak theory” believe that the COVID-19 pandemic began when the virus was inadvertently leaked from the WIV as part of a research mishap. The revelation that “Patient Zero” was probably one of his three researchers who worked there is significant new evidence in support of that theory.
Hu is considered a protégé of China’s leading bat virus researcher, Dr. Shi Zhenli, known in China as “Batwoman.” It was already known that some WIV researchers became ill around November 2019, but their identities were unknown until Public reported last week. (Related: New Evidence of Chinese Military ‘Shadow Lab’ at Wuhan Institute of Virology)
a 2017 video It shows Hu and another researcher handling laboratory specimens without protective gear. Hu is also cited in several papers, along with EcoHealth Alliance founder Peter Daszak, who funneled taxpayer grants into WIV from the National Institutes of Health for gain-of-function research.
