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[Starver]

...Twelfth Night Tetanus, Midsummer Mumps, Guy Fawkes Night Gyp (UK only)... And, every four(ish) years, Leap Day Leprosy.

[King Zultan]

The holiday seasons are always more festive when they have a corresponding disease.

[martinuzz]

The German intelligence agency BND just now made a report public in the media in which it state that they are 80-95% certain that Covid did not originate in the animal market of Wuhan, but instead accidentally escaped from the virus research laboratory nearby.

[heydude6]

I’ve heard quite a lot of back and forth about whether Covid was caused by a lab leak or if it appeared spontaneously. There certainly is evidence for the lab leak, it’s not a dumb conspiracy theory like people previously characterized it, but based on the information I’ve seen I do think Covid came from the market.

If you want to know why, here’s the link to what convinced me.

As for the official pro lab leak stances of the FBI and now this German intelligence agency, personally I believe this an attempt to stoke hostility against China and fuel local nationalism. Intelligence agencies compete with foreign powers on all fronts. Not just for material power, but also for the hearts and minds of its citizens. The Cold War was dominated by CIA psyops on its own citizens. I’m not married to this theory, but it’s the only way I can reconcile the strong evidence for market origins with the official stances of agencies that should really know better.

Maybe there’s some unknown factor that makes these organizations more confident in the lab leak theory?

[anewaname]

The topic of "lab leak or not" isn't important anymore. It has become a political matter and no new evidence will be found (clarification: no new evidence that can be trusted by anyone...).

[Grim Portent]

Weird thing is it doesn't really matter either way. Accidents happen in labs and also in wet markets, and really any place where humans and animals mingle especially when food is a factor. The whole thing was likely just a regular zoonotic transfer event either mediated through one location or the other.

If it did come from the lab of course China would lie about it, it would harm their public image and China is protective about that on some of the oddest (to me) subjects, and if it came from the wet market people who are anti-China wouldn't believe it anyway.

The origin just got politicised by bad actors who didn't want to bite the bullet and engage in quarantine efforts rather than just viewing it as SARS 2: With a Vengeance and dealing with it like any other mass disease outbreak. Not like new dangerous diseases are strange occurrences, swine flue and bird flu crop up in livestock populations all over the place all the time, and have similar potential to become a pandemic.