The Wuhan Institute of Virology opened in 2018 with the founder of a French bio-industrial firm, Alain Merieux, acting as a consultant in its construction Hector RETAMAL AFP
Posted on 04/17/2020 7:46:27 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Wuhan (China) (AFP) - Nestled in the hilly outskirts of the city at the heart of the coronavirus crisis, a Chinese high-security biosafety laboratory is now the subject of US claims it may be the cradle of the pandemic.
Chinese scientists have said the virus likely jumped from an animal to humans in a market that sold wildlife in Wuhan, but the existence of the lab has fuelled conspiracy theories that the germ spread from the facility.
The institute is home to the China Centre for Virus Culture Collection, the largest virus bank in Asia which preserves more than 1,500 strains, according to its website.
The complex contains Asia's first maximum security lab equipped to handle Class 4 pathogens (P4) -- dangerous viruses that pose a high risk of person-to-person transmission, such as Ebola.
The 300 million yuan ($42 million) lab was completed in 2015, and finally opened in 2018, with the founder of a French bio-industrial firm, Alain Merieux, acting as a consultant in its construction.
The institute also has a P3 laboratory that has been in operation since 2012.
The 3,000-square-metre P4 lab, located in a square building with a cylindrical annex, lies near a pond at the foot of a forested hill in Wuhan's remote outskirts.
On a recent visit AFP saw no sign of activity inside.
A poster outside the complex read, "Strong Prevention and Control, Don't Panic, Listen to Official Announcements, Believe in Science, Don't Spread Rumours".
Is it the source of the coronavirus?
(Excerpt) Read more at france24.com ...
The Wuhan Institute of Virology opened in 2018 with the founder of a French bio-industrial firm, Alain Merieux, acting as a consultant in its construction Hector RETAMAL AFP
Communist China is a pariah state and needs to be treated like one.
The US shouldn’t do business with them on any level.
Neither should my Church, but hey, we have a Commi Pope.
The French say the jury is still out. But at least the article wasn’t a boat load of Trump bashing, as I expected.
We should drop a FAE on that building.
Yesterday.
L
Exactly. There is stuff in there that makes short people tall, and tall people short.
It looks like a Borg cube.
They let people travel out of Wuhan internationally during Chinese New Year, the plant’s largest period of travel. They restricted that same travel to other parts of China. And we still have people saying this was not a deliberate bioweapon.
On the fire department that I retired from 11 people tested positive weeks ago. Only 1 had any symptoms at all; he thought they were from our high pollen counts. The rest never did develop any symptoms and now all test negative.
Somehow during all the years that I was a senior officer on our HAZMAT team preparing for all types of chemical and bio-hazards... we never thought to prepare for one that causes no symptoms for the vast majority of people. Those commie Chinese are so damn sneaky.
France24 is actually a great source for news. When I lived in Israel I watched all the time. U.S. media, FOX included, as we used to say when we raced bicycles, bites the big Bianchi.
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