Charles Calisher1, Dennis Carroll2, Rita Colwell3, Ronald B Corley4, Peter Daszak5, Christian Drosten6, Luis Enjuanes7, Jeremy Farrar8, Hume Field9, Josie Golding8, Alexander Gorbalenya10, Bart Haagmans11, James M Hughes12, William B Karesh13, Gerald T Keusch14, Sai Kit Lam15, Juan Lubroth16, John S Mackenzie17, Larry Madoff18, Jonna Mazet19, Peter Palese20, Stanley Perlman21, Leo Poon22, Bernard Roizman23, Linda Saif24, Kanta Subbarao25, Mike Turner8. 1. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA. Electronic address: COVID19statement@gmail.com. 2. Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, Texas A&M, College Station, TX, USA. 3. University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. 4. NEIDL Institute, Boston, MA, USA. 5. EcoHealth Alliance, New York, NY, USA. 6. Charité - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany. 7. National Center of Biotechnology, Madrid, Spain. 8. The Wellcome Trust, London, UK. 9. School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. 10. Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands. 11. Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands. 12. Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. 13. World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Working Group on Wildlife, New York, NY, USA. 14. Boston University, Boston, MA, USA. 15. University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 16. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy. 17. Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia. 18. Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA. 19. University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, USA. 20. Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine, Mt Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA. 21. University of Iowa, Roy J and Lucille A Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA. 22. The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. 23. University of Chicago, Chigaco, IL, USA. 24. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA. 25. The University of Melbourne, Melboune, VIC, Australia.
We are public health scientists who have closely followed the emergence of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and are deeply concerned about its impact on global health and wellbeing. We have watched as the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China, in particular, have worked diligently and effectively to rapidly identify the pathogen behind this outbreak, put in place significant measures to reduce its impact, and share their results transparently with the global health community. This effort has been remarkable.We sign this statement in solidarity with all scientists and health professionals in China who continue to save lives and protect global health during the challenge of the COVID-19 outbreak. We are all in this together, with our Chinese counterparts in the forefront, against this new viral threat.The rapid, open, and transparent sharing of data on this outbreak is now being threatened by rumours and misinformation around its origins. We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin. Scientists from multiple countries have published and analysed genomes of the causative agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and they overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 as have so many other emerging pathogens.11, 12 This is further supported by a letter from the presidents of the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and by the scientific communities they represent. Conspiracy theories do nothing but create fear, rumours, and prejudice that jeopardise our global collaboration in the fight against this virus. We support the call from the Director-General of WHO to promote scientific evidence and unity over misinformation and conjecture. We want you, the science and health professionals of China, to know that we stand with you in your fight against this virus.We invite others to join us in supporting the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of Wuhan and across China. Stand with our colleagues on the frontline!
Authors: D Paraskevis; E G Kostaki; G Magiorkinis; G Panayiotakopoulos; G Sourvinos; S Tsiodras Journal: Infect Genet Evol Date: 2020-01-29 Impact factor: 3.342
Authors: Antonella Somma; Giulia Gialdi; Robert F Krueger; Kristian E Markon; Claudia Frau; Silvia Lovallo; Andrea Fossati Journal: Pers Individ Dif Date: 2020-05-26
Authors: Charles H Calisher; Dennis Carroll; Rita Colwell; Ronald B Corley; Peter Daszak; Christian Drosten; Luis Enjuanes; Jeremy Farrar; Hume Field; Josie Golding; Alexander E Gorbalenya; Bart Haagmans; James M Hughes; Gerald T Keusch; Sai Kit Lam; Juan Lubroth; John S Mackenzie; Larry Madoff; Jonna Keener Mazet; Stanley M Perlman; Leo Poon; Linda Saif; Kanta Subbarao; Michael Turner Journal: Lancet Date: 2021-07-05 Impact factor: 79.321