COVID origins report says it’s ‘plausible’ virus leaked from Wuhan lab

 An unclassified summary of the US intelligence community report on COVID-19 origins says it’s “plausible” the virus leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, and that it might be genetically engineered — but that investigators remain “divided.”

President Biden requested the review under pressure in May and said in a Friday afternoon statement that he wants China “to fully share information,” without identifying any coercive steps to achieve cooperation.

“The world deserves answers, and I will not rest until we get them,” Biden said. “Responsible nations do not shirk these kinds of responsibilities to the rest of the world. Pandemics do not respect international borders, and we all must better understand how COVID-19 came to be in order to prevent further pandemics.”

The report summary says that “the [intelligence community] remains divided on the most likely origin of COVID-19,” but that “[a]ll agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated incident.”

One US spy agency leans toward the explanation that the virus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

That agency “assesses with moderate confidence that the first human infection with SARS-CoV-2 most likely was the result of a laboratory-associated incident, probably involving experimentation, animal handling, or sampling by the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” the summary says.

“These analysts give weight to the inherently risky nature of work on coronaviruses.”

There was also uncertainty on whether it was genetically engineered.

A team of researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the EcoHealth Alliance have trapped bats in caves all over China.

ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE

“Most agencies also assess with low confidence that SARS-CoV-2 probably was not genetically engineered; however, two agencies believe there was not sufficient evidence to make an assessment either way,” the document says.

The two-page summary does not say which US spy agencies contributed analysis, but the review was expected to include the CIA and the National Security Agency, among others.

The assessment says four US spy agencies lean toward the theory that the virus emerged naturally in animals, but that they only have “low confidence” in that theory.

Three other intelligence agencies “remain unable to coalesce around either explanation… with some analysts favoring natural origin, others a laboratory origin, and some seeing the hypotheses as equally likely.”

The report summary says that it’s possible an answer never will be determined due to the fact that China “continues to hinder the global investigation, resist sharing information and blame other countries, including the United States.”

Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli, known as China’s “batwoman”, works with other researchers in a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology on February 23, 2017.

AP

Chinese government officials have repeatedly denied that coronavirus could have possibly leaked from its lab in Wuhan.

EPA

The spy agencies assert that “[t]hese actions reflect, in part, China’s government’s own uncertainty about where an investigation could lead as well as its frustration the international community is using the issue to exert political pressure on China.”

The agencies concluded that “the virus was not developed as a biological weapon.”

Although not ruling out a lab leak, the assessment says that spy agencies believe that “China’s officials did not have foreknowledge of the virus before the initial outbreak of COVID-19 emerged.”

The agencies believe “they will be unable to provide a more definitive explanation for the origin of COVID-19 unless new information allows them to determine the specific pathway for initial natural contact with an animal or to determine that a laboratory in Wuhan was handling SARS-CoV-2 or a close progenitor virus before COVID-19 emerged,” the document says.

The intelligence community and scientists don’t have “clinical samples or a complete understanding of epidemiological data from the earliest COVID-19 cases,” the summary said.

“If we obtain information on the earliest cases that identified a location of interest or occupational exposure, it may alter our evaluation of hypotheses.”

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The document says that “China’s cooperation most likely would be needed to reach a conclusive assessment of the origins of COVID-19.”

A security official moves journalists away from the Wuhan Institute of Virology after a World Health Organization team visit on February 3, 2021.

AP

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing this week that the Biden administration doesn’t have “anything to preview” on steps to pressure China into being transparent on COVID-19 origins.

The Biden White House initially resisted pursuing a US review of pandemic origins, instead deferring to the World Health Organization. But in May the president ordered the 90-day spy agency review after the Wall Street Journal reported that three workers at the Wuhan lab were hospitalized in November 2019 ahead of public confirmation of the outbreak.

An initial WHO probe that was controlled by China concluded in March that the virus likely emerged naturally from animals — but the findings drew bipartisan scorn and broad skepticism.

Psaki said this month that the White House does not support former President Donald Trump’s demand that China pay $10 trillion in reparations for allowing the virus to spread by concealing early data.

https://nypost.com/2021/08/27/covid-origins-report-says-its-plausible-virus-leaked-from-wuhan-lab/

BioMarin Gets European Commission Approval for Voxzogo

 BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. on Friday said the European Commission approved Voxzogo, a once-daily injection to treat achondroplasia, the most common form of disproportionate short stature in humans.

The San Rafael, Calif., biotechnology company said the approval covers the treatment of children from the age of 2 until growth plates are closed, which occurs after puberty when children reach final adult height.

BioMarin said Voxzogo is the first medicine approved to treat children with achondroplasia in Europe. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing BioMarin's application for Voxzogo, with a target action date of Nov. 20.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/BIOMARIN-PHARMACEUTICAL-I-8587/news/BioMarin-Gets-European-Commission-Approval-for-Voxzogo-36266789/

Restoring 'chaperone' protein may prevent plaque build-up in Alzheimer’s

 For the first time, Penn Medicine researchers showed how restoring levels of the protein DAXX and a large group of similar proteins prevents the misfolding of the rogue proteins known to drive Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, as well as certain mutations that contribute to cancers. The findings could lead to new targeted approaches that would restore a biological system designed to keep key proteins in check and prevent diseases.

The findings were published online in Nature.

The study focuses on DAXX, or death domain-associated protein, which is a member of a large family of human proteins, each with an unusually high content of two specific amino acid residues, aspartate and glutamate, referred to as polyD/E proteins. The various roles of DAXX and approximately 50 other polyD/E proteins in cell processes have emerged over time, but their role as a protein quality control system -- a "chaperone" that directs protein folding, so to speak -- was unanticipated.

"We solve a decades-long puzzle by showing this group of proteins actually constitute a major protein quality control system in cells and a never-before-seen enabler of proper folding of various proteins -- including misfolding-prone proteins associated with various diseases," said senior author Xiaolu Yang, PhD, a professor of Cancer Biology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. "Keep that family of proteins functioning properly, and the tangling of rogue proteins may be diminished or stopped altogether."

Proteins are the workhorses of the cell. To ensure normal cellular function and protect against protein-misfolding associated with disease, organisms have evolved elaborate protein quality control systems to enable efficient protein folding. However, these systems, especially those in humans, are still not well understood, which limits the ability to develop effective therapies.

The researchers showed that DAXX and other polyD/E proteins facilitate the folding of proteins, reverse protein aggregates, and unfold misfolded proteins. They prevent neurodegeneration-associated proteins, such as beta-amyloid and alpha-synuclein from misfolding, tangling, and forming extracellular plaques and intracellular inclusions, they found. Beta-amyloid clumping between the nerve cells is observed in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients and the target of many treatment approaches, while intracellular inclusions of alpha-synuclein are observed in the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease.

The team also showed DAXX's potential role in treating cancer.

DAXX restores native function to tumor-associated and aggregation-prone p53 proteins, reducing their cancer properties. That's important because p53 is the preeminent tumor suppressor and mutations in p53 are associated with a bevy of cancers, including lung, colon, pancreatic, ovarian, and breast cancer. Bolstering DAXX function, the authors said, might represent an alternative approach to therapeutically reestablish the tumor suppressive function of mutant p53 to treat patients.

"The findings give us a better understanding of a new biochemical activity that effectively contends with protein misfolding seen in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, as well as in cancer, and represent an opportunity to develop new approaches to treat these diseases," Yang said.

The first author of the study is Liangqian Huang, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in Yang's lab.

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health (R01CA182675, R01CA184867, R01CA235760, R01CA243520, P01 AG031862, and R01GM099836), an Alzheimer's Association Research Fellowship, a Warren Alpert Foundation Distinguished Scholars Fellowship, and a Sponsored Research Agreement from Wealth Strategy Holding Limited.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Liangqian Huang, Trisha Agrawal, Guixin Zhu, Sixiang Yu, Liming Tao, JiaBei Lin, Ronen Marmorstein, James Shorter, Xiaolu Yang. DAXX represents a new type of protein-folding enabler. Nature, 2021; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03824-5

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210826111709.htm

Rrisk of developing disease linked to genetics tends to decrease with age

 People often get sicker as they grow older, but new research from Gil McVean of the University of Oxford and colleagues finds that the impact of a person's genes on their risk of getting sick actually wanes with age. The researchers published their new findings August 26thin the journal PLOS Genetics.

The genes we inherit from our parents influence our risk for almost all diseases, from cancer to heart disease to autoimmune disorders. With new genomic technologies, scientists can now use a person's genome to predict their future disease risk. However, recent work has shown that the predictive power of a person's genetics can depend on their age, sex and ethnicity.

In the new study, McVean's team investigated whether the risk of developing a disease posed by carrying certain genes changes as a person gets older. In other words, they wanted to know if there are windows when people are more or less likely to develop diseases linked to genetics. They used genomic data from 500,000 people in the UK Biobank to look at how their genetics impact their risk of developing 24 common diseases. While different diseases had different risk patterns, the researchers showed that a person's genetic risk is highest early in life and then drops off for many diseases, including high blood pressure, skin cancer and underactive thyroids.

Currently, the reasons why the risk posed by a person's genes decreases with age are not clear. The researchers suspect that there may be unknown processes at work, such interactions between a person's genes and their environment that lead to disease. A better understanding of how age impacts a person's risk of developing a disease linked to their genes may help researchers make more accurate predictions about whether an individual will ultimately become sick with that condition.

McVean adds, "Our work shows that the way in which genetics affects your risk of getting a disease change throughout life. For many diseases, genetic factors are most important in determining whether you will get a disease early in life, while -- as you age -- other factors come to dominate risk."

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Story Source:

Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Xilin Jiang, Chris Holmes, Gil McVean. The impact of age on genetic risk for common diseases. PLOS Genetics, 2021; 17 (8): e1009723 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009723

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210826170151.htm

Symptomatic COVID patients are more contagious: study

 Individuals with COVID-19 are most likely to spread the virus to close contacts two days before the onset of symptoms to three days after symptoms appear, and the risk of transmission is highest when patients had mild or moderate disease severity, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia.

The study, which was published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine, supports the idea that if a person with COVID-19 is sicker, they are more contagious compared to asymptomatic cases.

The findings provide further evidence for interventions like contact tracing, masking and vaccines, says lead author Yang Ge, a doctoral student in UGA's College of Public Health.

"We found asymptomatic cases had lower transmissibility compared to symptomatic cases and were less likely to infect their contacts. In addition, we found that contacts that developed COVID-19 infections were more likely to be asymptomatic if they were exposed to an asymptomatic case," said Ge.

"This suggests interventions like vaccines and masking should continue to be encouraged."

Vaccines not only protect the vaccinated individual, but they also work to suppress the amount of virus that close contacts could be exposed to, and masking reduces the spread of aerosolized particles that could contain the virus.

The research team drew its findings from a large cohort study of 730 individuals who received a COVID-19 diagnosis in Zhejiang Province, China, between Jan. 8, 2020, and July 30, 2020.

Using detailed health records and contact tracing, the team was able to apply state-of-the-art analytical approaches to determine how the timing of exposure and disease severity impacted the risk of transmission.

The cohort included 8,852 close contacts, defined as members of a household, coworkers, and those exposed in a health care setting or shared transit.

To date, this is one of the largest contact tracing studies of its kind, said corresponding author Ye Shen, an associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in public health.

Though Shen says that these results need to be repeated in vaccinated populations, the study identifies a high-risk transmission window to help local municipal and public health officials target contact tracing efforts.

The study was co-authored by researchers at UGA, Boston University School of Public Health, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, University of Texas School of Public Health, and Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Georgia. Original written by Lauren Baggett. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Yang Ge, Leonardo Martinez, Shengzhi Sun, Zhiping Chen, Feng Zhang, Fangyu Li, Wanwan Sun, Enfu Chen, Jinren Pan, Changwei Li, Jimin Sun, Andreas Handel, Feng Ling, Ye Shen. COVID-19 Transmission Dynamics Among Close Contacts of Index Patients With COVID-19. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2021; DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2021.4686

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210826170205.htm

Covid data disappearing in some states even as delta surges

 Two state government websites in Georgia recently stopped posting updates about Covid-19 cases in prisons and long-term care facilities, just as the dangerous delta variant was taking hold.

Data have been disappearing recently in other states, as well.

Florida, for example, now reports Covid cases, deaths and hospitalizations once a week, instead of daily, as before.

Both states, along with the rest of the South, are battling high infection rates.

Public health experts are voicing concern about the pullback of Covid information. Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, said the trend is “not good for government and the public” because it gives the appearance that governments are “hiding stuff.”

A month ago, the Georgia agency that runs state prisons stopped giving public updates about the numbers of new Covid cases among inmates and staff members. The Corrections Department, in explaining the decision, cited its successful vaccination rates and “a declining number of Covid-19 cases among staff and inmates.”

Now, a month later, Georgia has among the highest Covid infection rates in the U.S. — along with one of the lowest vaccination rates. But the Corrections Department hasn’t resumed posting case data on its website.

Asked by Kaiser Health News about the Covid situation in prisons, spokesperson Joan Heath said Monday that the department had 308 active cases among inmates.

“We will make a determination whether to begin reposting the daily Covid dashboard over the next few weeks if the current statewide surge is sustained,” Heath said.

Another state website, run by the Public Health Department, no longer links to a listing of the number of Covid cases among residents and staffers of nursing homes and other long-term care residences by facility. The data grid, launched early in the pandemic, gave running totals of long-term care cases and deaths from the virus.

Asked about the lack of online information, public health officials directed a reporter to another agency, the Community Health Department, which said Covid information for nursing homes could be found on a federal health website. But finding and navigating that link can be difficult.

“Residents and families cannot easily find this information,” said Melanie McNeil, the state’s long-term care ombudsman. “It used to be easily accessible.”

Georgia updates overall numbers of Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths five days a week, but it has recently stopped its weekend Covid reporting.

Other states also have cut back their public case reporting, even though the country is being engulfed in a fourth, delta-driven Covid surge.

Florida had issued daily reports about cases, deaths and hospitalizations until the rate of positive test results dropped in June. Even when caseloads soared in July and August, the state stuck with weekly reporting.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/covid-data-disappearing-some-states-even-amid-delta-surge-n1277715

EU is considering barring American tourists—again

 The European Union will discuss this week whether to reimpose curbs on visitors from the U.S. as new coronavirus cases soar.

The change was recommended by Slovenia, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency and is responsible for triggering an assessment of countries allowed non-essential travel there, according to two officials familiar with the plans.

The U.S. had 507 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the first two weeks of August, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, well above the limit of 75 set out in EU guidelines. Still, a move to bar visitors from the world’s largest economy would come as a blow to airlines and travel firms pressing for a full reopening of lucrative transatlantic routes.

“Such a decision would be hugely disappointing for Europe’s airlines, not to mention our tourism sector, which has benefited greatly from the influx of American travelers since restrictions were removed in June,” the Airlines for Europe lobby group said in a statement Wednesday.

Air France-KLM closed 0.4% lower in Paris after trading up as much as 3.1%, while IAG SA, owner of Spain’s Iberia and Aer Lingus of Ireland, fell 0.8% in London following a 2.5% advance earlier. Deutsche Lufthansa AG ended the day up 0.1% in Frankfurt, subsiding from a 2% gain.

EU rules also specify that the trend of new cases should be stable or decreasing and that no more than 4% of those tested for the virus are positive. The guidelines take into account whether variants of concern have been detected in a particular nation and whether it has reciprocated on opening travel, which the U.S. hasn’t.

The guidance from the bloc is a recommendation and any decision on who to let in, and what restrictions to impose, ultimately rests with the governments of each member state. While countries have largely followed the EU guidelines, there have been times when individual nations have diverged from them.

The latest proposal recommends removing several other countries from the permitted list, including Israel, said the officials, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. 

At least one country, Croatia, will vote against the proposal, according to another official. Removing the U.S. would require agreement among a qualified majority of member states.

Travel between the EU and U.S. has been a point of political contention. The Biden administration has kept border restrictions in place despite pressure to allow visitors from places like the EU that have eased their own curbs. U.S. officials have cited rising Delta infections as one reason for that stance.

Airline routes between the EU and U.S. rebounded to almost 50% of pre-pandemic levels after Brussels chose to let in fully vaccinated Americans in June. The number of scheduled seats from the U.S. to western Europe is 8.6 million so far this year, according to OAG data. That compares to 30.1 million in the same period in 2019.

Lufthansa said earlier this month it sees North America opening up from late summer, while Air France plans to offer 70% of its usual network-wide seating this quarter, predicting a return to profitability.

https://fortune.com/2021/08/26/eu-american-tourists-european-travel-covid/