Monkeypox Origin Theories Point to Labs in Wuhan and Ukraine – Hoax?

Questionable theories that monkeypox may have leaked from a lab in Ukraine or China were dismissed by experts as nonsensical claims, Newsweek reports.

Wuhan Institute of Virology

Chuck Callesto, a right-wing media activist with 300,000 Twitter followers, alleged the Wuhan lab experimented with monkeypox last year and published a research report in an international journal in February. The tweet was posted Monday.

Castello did not provide details of the said published research paper. However, Newsweek suspects it is the journal edited by Wuhan Institute of Virology researcher Zheng-Li Shithe and published Feb. 28 in Virologica Sinica.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology is the same Chinese lab that was involved in the COVID leak theories that circulated during the pandemic. Newsweek reports that the theories were seriously considered by scientists and investigators. However, experts are leaning toward the theory that the pandemic was caused by natural transmission from animals.

The February research article referenced in Castello's tweet discusses creating a fragment of the monkeypox virus to show how large DNA constructs can be assembled without error, allowing detection by PCR testing.

The researchers were unable to achieve the stated goal due to safety concerns about their work. The researchers pointed out that they only wanted to create a fragment that was less than one-third the size of the entire genome, which could alleviate the safety concerns raised.

The researchers explained that the assembled product is fail-safe in that it virtually eliminates any risk of reversion to an infectious virus.

Ukrainian Laboratory

Another theory circulating on the Internet states that monkeypox originated in a Ukrainian laboratory, citing an independent investigator who in turn cited an unnamed source at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). However, the theory was published by NewsPunch, a widely discredited website. FactCheck.org calls the website in question a prolific poster of misinformation and conspiracy theories.

David Robertson, head of the Department of Viral Genomics and Bioinformatics at the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom, dismissed both theories as unsubstantiated stories that are purely speculative and malicious nonsense.

In his interview with Newsweek, Robertson said there is no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 or monkeypox was created in a laboratory. He added that genome sequences of monkeypox are being reported from several countries and that recent cases are linked to an earlier outbreak.

Robertson cited a recent study presented by Portuguese researchers on Virological.org, a viral genomic discussion forum. In the study, the researchers noted that the current outbreak virus belongs to the West African clade and is most closely related to viruses associated with the export of monkeypox virus from Nigeria to several countries in 2018 and 2019, namely the United Kingdom, Israel, and Singapore.

Richard Ebright, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers University in New Jersey, told Newsweek that all indications are that the monkeypox outbreak is a natural monkeypox virus. Ebright is a personality who strongly supports the laboratory leak theory for COVID.

Jonathan Stoye, a virologist at the Francis Crick Institute in the United Kingdom, said the reaction to the monkeypox story reflects a degree of hysteria, that is not worthy of serious consideration.

He added that it is likely that there is a high number of unreported cases in Africa, in the hundreds if not thousands, and that it is very unlikely that these cases originated in China.

Read also: Seven Cases of Rare Monkeypox Infections Detected in Several European Countries 

World Health Organization Statement

In the U.S., there is currently one confirmed case and several suspected cases in six states.

Most cases in the recent outbreak occurred in men who have sex with men (MSM), leading to speculation about transmission. On May 23, the World Health Organisation stressed that monkeypox is not a "gay disease," as social media has attempted to label the outbreak.

Andy Seale, a consultant to the HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections Programme at WHO, noted at a conference that the suggestion that monkeypox is a disease of the gay community is not accurate.

Seale explained that while there are cases in communities that identify as MSM, anyone can contract monkeypox through close contact.

Related artricle: Monkeypox Outbreak Reaches Canada, U.S. with Confirmed Cases