CIA Report Suggests COVID-19 Likely Originated From Wuhan Lab

The newly declassified assessment, released with low confidence, reignites the debate over the pandemic's origins and faces criticism from China and scientists.

The CIA's declassified report concludes that a lab leak from Wuhan, China, is more likely than a natural origin for COVID-19 but states this finding is made with low confidence.
The report is based on existing data and does not present new evidence; it was completed under the Biden administration and released by current CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
China has rejected the CIA's findings, citing prior World Health Organization studies that favored a zoonotic origin and calling for science-based investigations.
The intelligence community remains divided, with some U.S. agencies supporting the lab-leak theory while others back natural transmission as the more plausible explanation.
Experts highlight the lack of definitive evidence for either theory and emphasize the need for improved global transparency and safety measures in both wildlife trade and laboratory research.