An international study led by virologists at The University of Hong Kong has shown that geographically and genetically distinct Middle East respiratory syndrome coronaviruses (MERS-CoV) from Africa have lower replication competence in human and mouse lung than those from the ME.

LONDON – The World Health Organization’s (WHO) mission to Wuhan has rejected accidental laboratory escape as the source of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, but failed to uncover satisfactory evidence of its exact origin.