中新網北京8月20日電(蔣鯉)近日，美國農業部對本國白尾鹿血液樣本進行檢測發現，2019年的鹿血樣本中有1例攜帶了新冠病毒抗體，這意味著，早在2019年，美國白尾鹿族群內就已出現了新冠病毒感染。這一發現無疑將新冠病毒全球溯源工作向前推進了一大步。
研究還發現，今年1至3月在美國東北部采集到的385個白尾鹿血液樣本中，約40%驗出抗體。這說明，北美大陸常見的野生動物白尾鹿已大規模感染新冠病毒，但美國農業部聲稱沒有找到原因。
美國農業部認為，2019年的樣本里只有一個陽性，因此很可能是“假陽性”，但這一結論顯然站不住腳。其研究方法使用的是極為精準的中和抗體檢測技術，并且采取了兩種技術進行雙重檢測，相互印證的結果是抗體仍舊顯示陽性。
科學技術是檢驗病毒最可靠的手段。然而，盡管美國農業部對外公布了這一調查結果，但一直“叫嚷”著要求進行新冠病毒溯源的部分政客和媒體，無一例外地對此選擇了“閉嘴”和“無視”，這又是為什么呢？
顯然，這一調查結果將會推翻美國一直別有用心炒作的針對武漢實驗室的有罪推定式調查。同時，也會阻礙美國將新冠溯源政治化以嫁禍中國的圖謀。
事實上，5月10日，美國農業部傳染病研究專家米切爾?帕爾默團隊就在《病毒學》發表論文稱，目前的證據表明新冠病毒可能從動物宿主傳染給人類，而白尾鹿與人類在新冠病毒受體方面高度同源，因此，新冠病毒很可能通過中間動物宿主(例如白尾鹿)傳給人類。這一發現支持將野生鹿科動物納入到新冠病毒的潛在宿主或來源中進行調查。
而此前中國-世衛組織聯合溯源研究的報告也指出，新冠病毒從自然宿主通過中間宿主再過渡到人是多個路徑中最有可能的。
美國一邊堅稱相信科學，一邊又對科學的調查結果置若罔聞。沒有真憑實據卻大肆炒作所謂的“武漢實驗室泄漏論”，面對國際社會對德特里克堡的重重質疑，更是避而不談。
所以，美國到底是相信政治，還是相信科學呢？
國際社會紛紛呼吁客觀公正地開展全球病毒溯源研究，美國不應為此制造障礙。當下，本著科學透明的態度，允許對白尾鹿感染病毒事件進行調查，助力國際社會早日揭開新冠病毒源頭的謎團才是美國應該做的。(完)
COVID-19 origin tracing: Is the U.S. prone to rely on politics or science?
By John Lee
(ECNS) -- A study conducted by researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has detected SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a blood sample of a U.S. white-tailed deer collected in 2019. It means the wild U.S. deer was exposed to the coronavirus as early as in 2019, thus pushing forward the timeline of Covid-19 origin tracing.
Researchers also analyzed blood samples taken from 385 white-tailed deer from Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, and New York from January to March, 2021. Nearly 40 percent of them were found carrying SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The study proves that white-tailed deer in these populations have been infected with the coronavirus on a large scale. The USDA claimed it didn't know how the deer were exposed to the virus.
The USDA says that the single outlier in 2019's samples was almost certainly a false positive since it had a very low level of antibodies. However, researchers used a SARS-CoV-2 antibody screening test that has been highly accurate with other species. The USDA also helped exclude the chances of cross-reactivity through testing a subset of the samples using a second type of antibody test even more specific to SARS-CoV-2. Results from the second test mirrored the earlier findings, proving that SARS-CoV-2 antibodies do exist in the sample.
Nevertheless, some U.S. politicians and media refuse to accept such a scientific result. Obviously, this result will overturn the Wuhan lab-leak theory that they have hyped, obstruct the U.S. politicizing origin tracing and prevent it from using China as a scapegoat.
A research paper called Susceptibility of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to SARS-CoV-2 published on Journal of Virology on May 10, 2021 by Mitchell V. Palmer team, professional in infectious disease research, has suggested that coronavirus is likely spillover into humans from animals. Considering that SARS-CoV-2 binds to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor of human cells and the white-tailed deer, whose ACE2 receptors are highly homologous to human-ACE2, the species is susceptible to the virus. This research supports scientists to probe into the animal host (white-tailed deer) range of SARS-CoV-2.
What's more, the previous joint study report by the WHO and Chinese scientists also endorses that the transition of the coronavirus from natural host to humans through the intermediate host is the most possible among many paths.
The U.S. launched the origin tracing in the name of science and keeps hyping "lab-leak" theory without clear evidence, but when it comes to the virus found at home, it turns a deaf ear to scientific results. It refuses to answer questions concerning Fort Detrick. So, does the country believe in politics or science?
The U.S. should not stand in the way of COVID-19 origin tracing as the international community unanimously calls for a scientific and objective investigation. It is an urgent mission for the U.S. to further conduct investigations into the deer carrying coronavirus antibodies and help the world find the origin of the virus at an early date.
【編輯:孫靜波】
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