The virus Banal-52, found in bats in Lao (pictured at a market in Luang Prabang), shares 96.8 percent of its genome with Sars-Cov-2

Bats sold at a market in Luang Prabang, Laos – possible carriers of the progenitor of Sars-Cov-2. But how did the bat-borne virus travel 1000 miles to Wuhan? Leaked documents reveal viral samples from Lao bats were being sent for US-funded studies at the Wuhan Institute of Virology

That puzzle might now have been solved, as leaked emails between EcoHealth Alliance and US government funders reveal viral samples from Lao bats were being collected and sent for study in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Viral DNA from ‘bats and other high-risk species’ were sent to Wuhan between June 2017 to May 2019. according to the emails, uncovered by a Freedom of Information request made by White Coat Waste Project, a US-based campaign group.