>>9333596 lb
As soon as I see "groundless conspiracy theories" in an article my spidy senses go up. There's a lot of secrecy surrounding this investigation. What are they trying to hide?? What other samples were sent that weren't caught???
In mystery investigation of two Canadian scientists, a request for Ebola, henipavirus from the Wuhan lab
May 5, 2020
The shipment of Ebola and henipavirus samples to Wuhan has given rise to groundless conspiracy theories involving Xiangguo Qiu. But there is no evidence whatsoever tying her to COVID-19
Xiangguo Qiu was a star at the National Microbiology Laboratory, Canada’s premier disease-research facility. As the co-creator of a once-promising treatment for Ebola virus, her work earned kudos around the world.
That reputation made it all the more shocking when she and her biologist husband, Keding Cheng, were escorted from the lab last July as internal and RCMP investigations got underway.
But a year later, those inquiries have yet to be completed, the two scientists appear still in limbo and the Public Health Agency of Canada, which employs them, has revealed another link between the affair and Wuhan, the Chinese city that several months later became the likely source of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A shipment of Ebola and henipavirus samples to China, previously disclosed by the agency and first reported by the National Post, was requested specifically by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, said Eric Morrissette, an agency spokesman. The institute runs the country’s lone BSL-4 disease lab, similar to the Winnipeg-based NML and the highest-security facility for handling pathogens.
Qiu helped train staff at the Wuhan lab, among several trips she took to her native China in recent years.
Yet the government and police have divulged little else about the situation, leaving a haze of mystery over it that has spawned groundless COVID-19 conspiracy theories — and frustrated even NML employees.
“They have told the staff nothing, other than a ridiculous order last summer that we’re not allowed to discuss it or speculate about what may be going on,” said one Public Health Agency employee, not authorized to speak on the record. “Many of us think it is such a huge story that they are trying to keep buried for some pretty serious reasons. We just don’t know what those are.”
The agency has said only that it was looking into an “administrative matter” and had referred “possible policy breaches” to the RCMP.
“The (internal) administrative review remains underway,” said Morrissette recently. “We cannot provide further details.”
As for the RCMP probe, “the matter is still under investigation. No charges have been laid at this time,” said Sgt. Paul Manaigre, a spokesman for the force in Manitoba.
The matter appears to have something to do with that shipment to Wuhan in March 2019 of samples of Ebola and henipavirus — another highly virulent family of pathogens. Neither is related to COVID-19.
“In response to a request from the (Wuhan) Institute for viral samples of Ebola and Henipah viruses, the Public Health Agency of Canada sent samples for the purpose of scientific research in 2019,” Morrissette said. “The National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) shares samples with other public health laboratories — as they do with the NML — to contribute to the advancement of science.”
More at this link
https://nationalpost.com/news/covid-19-pandemic-wuhan-institute-of-virology-ebola-national-microbiology-laboratory