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Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China combatting COVID-19

2020; Elsevier BV; Volume: 395; Issue: 10226 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30418-9

1474-547X

Charles H. Calisher, Dennis Carroll, Rita R. Colwell, Ronald B Corley, Peter Daszak, Christian Drosten, Luis Enjuanes, Jeremy Farrar, Hume Field, Josie Golding, Alexander E. Gorbalenya, Bart L. Haagmans, James M. Hughes, William B. Karesh, Gerald T. Keusch, Sai Kit Lam, Juan Lubroth, J. S. Mackenzie, Larry Madoff, Jonna A. K. Mazet, Peter Palese, Stanley Perlman, Leo L. M. Poon, Bernard Roizman, Linda J. Saif, Kanta Subbarao, Mike Turner,

COVID-19 epidemiological studies

We are public health scientists who have closely followed the emergence of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and are deeply concerned about its impact on global health and wellbeing. We have watched as the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China, in particular, have worked diligently and effectively to rapidly identify the pathogen behind this outbreak, put in place significant measures to reduce its impact, and share their results transparently with the global health community. This effort has been remarkable. We sign this statement in solidarity with all scientists and health professionals in China who continue to save lives and protect global health during the challenge of the COVID-19 outbreak. We are all in this together, with our Chinese counterparts in the forefront, against this new viral threat. The rapid, open, and transparent sharing of data on this outbreak is now being threatened by rumours and misinformation around its origins. We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin. Scientists from multiple countries have published and analysed genomes of the causative agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2),1Gorbalenya AE Baker SC Baric RS et al.Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus: the species and its viruses—a statement of the Coronavirus Study Group.bioRxiv. 2020; (published online Feb 11. DOI: 2020.02.07.937862 (preprint).)Google Scholar and they overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife,2Zhou P Yang X-L Wang X-G et al.A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin.Nature. 2020; (published online Feb 3.)DOI:10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7Crossref Scopus (14410) Google Scholar, 3Lu R Zhao X Li J et al.Genomic characterisation and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: implications for virus origins and receptor binding.Lancet. 2020; (published online Jan 30.)https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30251-8Summary Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (8212) Google Scholar, 4Zhu N Zhang D Wang W et al.A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019.NEJM. 2020; (published online Jan 24.)DOI:10.1056/NEJMoa2001017Crossref PubMed Scopus (18588) Google Scholar, 5Ren L Wang Y-M Wu Z-Q et al.Identification of a novel coronavirus causing severe pneumonia in humans: a descriptive study.Chin Med J. 2020; (published online Feb 11.)DOI:10.1097/CM9.0000000000000722Crossref Scopus (862) Google Scholar, 6Paraskevis D Kostaki EG Magiorkinis G Panayiotakopoulos G Tsiodras S Full-genome evolutionary analysis of the novel corona virus (2019-nCoV) rejects the hypothesis of emergence as a result of a recent recombination event.Infect Genet Evol. 2020; (published online Jan 29.)DOI:10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104212Crossref PubMed Scopus (496) Google Scholar, 7Benvenuto D Giovanetti M Ciccozzi A Spoto S Angeletti S Ciccozzi M The 2019-new coronavirus epidemic: evidence for virus evolution.J Med Virol. 2020; (published online Jan 29.)DOI:10.1002/jmv.25688Crossref Scopus (452) Google Scholar, 8Wan Y Shang J Graham R Baric RS Li F Receptor recognition by novel coronavirus from Wuhan: an analysis based on decade-long structural studies of SARS.J Virol. 2020; (published online Jan 29.)DOI:10.1128/JVI.00127-20Crossref Scopus (3161) Google Scholar, 9US Center for Disease Control and PreventionCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation summary.https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.htmlDate: Feb 16, 2020Date accessed: February 8, 2020Google Scholar, 10Andersen KG Rambaut A Lipkin WI Holmes EC Garry RF The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2.http://virological.org/t/the-proximal-origin-of-sars-cov-2/398Date: Feb 16, 2020Date accessed: February 17, 2020Google Scholar as have so many other emerging pathogens.11Bengis R Leighton F Fischer J Artois M Morner T Tate C The role of wildlife in emerging and re-emerging zoonoses.Rev Sci Tech. 2004; 23: 497-512PubMed Google Scholar, 12Woolhouse ME Gowtage-Sequeria S Host range and emerging and reemerging pathogens.Emerg Infect Dis. 2005; 11: 1842-1847Crossref PubMed Scopus (1029) Google Scholar This is further supported by a letter from the presidents of the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine13NASEMThe National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine of the USA. NAS, NAE, and NAM presidents' letter to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.https://www.nationalacademies.org/includes/NASEM%20Response%20to%20OSTP%20re%20Coronavirus_February%206,%202020.pdfDate: Feb 6, 2020Date accessed: February 7, 2020Google Scholar and by the scientific communities they represent. Conspiracy theories do nothing but create fear, rumours, and prejudice that jeopardise our global collaboration in the fight against this virus. We support the call from the Director-General of WHO to promote scientific evidence and unity over misinformation and conjecture.14WHODirector-General's remarks at the media briefing on 2019 novel coronavirus on 8 February 2020.https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/director-general-s-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-2019-novel-coronavirus---8-february-2020Date: Feb 8, 2020Date accessed: February 18, 2020Google Scholar We want you, the science and health professionals of China, to know that we stand with you in your fight against this virus. We invite others to join us in supporting the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of Wuhan and across China. Stand with our colleagues on the frontline! We speak in one voice. To add your support for this statement, sign our letter online. LM is editor of ProMED-mail. We declare no competing interests. Download .pdf (.12 MB) Help with pdf files Chinese translation of full text Addendum: competing interests and the origins of SARS-CoV-2In February, 2020, 27 public health experts co-authored a Correspondence in The Lancet ("Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China combatting COVID-19"),1 supporting health professionals and physicians in China during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this letter, the authors declared no competing interests. Some readers have questioned the validity of this disclosure, particularly as it relates to one of the authors, Peter Daszak. Full-Text PDF Science, not speculation, is essential to determine how SARS-CoV-2 reached humansOn Feb 19, 2020, we, a group of physicians, veterinarians, epidemiologists, virologists, biologists, ecologists, and public health experts from around the world, joined together to express solidarity with our professional colleagues in China.1 Unsubstantiated allegations were being raised about the source of the COVID-19 outbreak and the integrity of our peers who were diligently working to learn more about the newly recognised virus, SARS-CoV-2, while struggling to care for the many patients admitted to hospital with severe illness in Wuhan and elsewhere in China. Full-Text PDF