Overview

• CIA Director John Ratcliffe, recently sworn in, has revised the agency's assessment, now favoring a lab-based origin for COVID-19 with low confidence.
• The agency previously maintained there was insufficient information to determine whether the virus originated naturally or from a laboratory incident.
• A December 2024 U.S. House subcommittee report also supported the likelihood of a lab origin, citing reports of early COVID-like illnesses among Wuhan researchers and inadequate lab safety protocols.
• Virologist Christian Drosten continues to advocate for a natural origin but urges China to provide evidence, expressing increasing skepticism over time.
• The World Health Organization reiterated its call for China to grant full access to data and samples to resolve the ongoing uncertainty about the virus's origins.