Since COVID-19 first took off, political leaders, infectious disease specialists, and the lay public have debated its origins. Eventually, two hypotheses emerged: Either the virus crossed over from animals to humans in a wet market in Wuhan—the city in which the disease first appeared—or it leaked from a Chinese lab,

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) backs the COVID-19 lab leak theory, Knewz.com can reveal. According to an assessment by new CIA director John Ratcliffe, the agency has “low confidence” in this conclusion,

The CIA now believes the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory.

The Central Intelligence Agency previously said that two explanations were plausible, a lab leak or a natural source for the virus. Yet under new agency director John Ratcliffe, the CIA has changed its view, which is now in line with that of the Department of Energy and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Langley joins the FBI and Energy Department in agreeing that a lab leak is the most likely source of the pandemic.

China on Monday dismissed the possibility that the virus that caused COVID-19 leaked from a lab, after the CIA said it now favors the so-called lab leak theory over natural transmission. “It

THE CIA now believes the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a Wuhan lab after years of denial under Biden’s administration. In a bombshell declassified

Several US agencies and some scientists have proposed the lab leak theory over the past few years. But other experts insist there are good reasons to think the devastating pathogen emerged from a market where animals are traded.