Trump administration cuts funding for research on bat viruses over ties to controversial Wuhan lab
The Trump administration has abruptly ended funding for an important project that could avert the next major outbreak after reports linked the research to the controversial Wuhan lab.
Earlier, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) tasked a non-governmental research organization named EcoHealth Alliance with carrying out studies on bat viruses. These studies are crucial to identify those capable of jumping over to humans and triggering outbreaks. But the project has come to a halt, thanks to its connection with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a lab embroiled in a controversy over the pandemic's origins. Though experts have dismissed this as unlikely, Trump has directed the US Intelligence to investigate the Institute.
The China bat research project was supported entirely through the NIH grant, the president of EcoHealth Alliance, Peter Daszak, told NPR. "So with the funding terminated, we won't be able to do this work. The fieldwork will not carry on," he added.
According to Politico, the NIH has asked the New York-based research nonprofit to stop spending the $369,819 remaining from its 2020 grant. “At this time, NIH does not believe that the current project outcomes align with the program goals and agency priorities,” Michael Lauer, the agency’s deputy director for extramural research, wrote in a letter to EcoHealth Alliance officials.
In a statement to Politico, the EcoHealth Alliance said it wanted to know the rationale behind this move. “For the past 20 years our organization has been investigating the sources of emerging diseases such as COVID-19,” the group said.
Daszak said their research in China has been fruitful. Together with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, they identified about 400 new coronaviruses. About 50 of those fall into a category that caused the 2002 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and, now, the COVID-19 pandemic, he told NPR.
Some of these viruses were capable of infecting human cells grown in the lab. They also found that some viruses have been jumping to humans for some time now. "Our work has shown that between 1 [million] and 7 million people a year are exposed in rural China and rural Southeast Asia to these viruses," Daszak said.
And some of these viruses might spur future outbreaks. An abrupt end to this project means the future is at risk. "We are now going to be unable to know about the risk of that, which puts us completely at risk of the next pandemic."
Scientists like Daszak had warned of a possible outbreak, but countries were still not prepared.
Project's beginnings
The NIH began funding the project during Obama's tenure in 2015. They received more than $3.7 million to study bat coronaviruses and the risks of them spilling over to humans.
The agency was quick to renew their project quickly. "When you submit those grants, they get reviewed independently by scientists, and they're assigned a score. We received an extremely high priority for funding," Daszak told NPR.
Daszak added that 10% of the grant was to go to the Wuhan Institute, which was carrying out the bulk of work: From collecting bat samples — feces, blood, and saliva — to analysis.
But this year, Trump may have decided to cut funding after Republican lawmakers wrote asking that they send no money to the Wuhan lab, citing safety concerns, according to Politico.
"You can't just turn up as an American and say, 'I want to find out what viruses you've got'. You have to work with local collaboration and with the permission of the governments." Daszak explained.