Physician-scientist shares fears samples from Canada may be used in high-risk research.

By Omid Ghoreishi| Published by The Epoch Times

Summary

High-risk research on the zoonotic Nipah virus at laboratories like the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) could pose a magnitudes more deadly threat than COVID-19, fears physician-scientist Dr. Steven Quay.

The author of more than 360 publications on a wide range of medical-science topics, Dr. Quay has raised concerns about research he fears could lead to disastrous results based on raw data from a published paper by WIV researchers that included unexpected items due to cross-contamination from other WIV research. One of these items was the Nipah virus, which was found in an infectious cloning format, suggesting that the Wuhan lab was working on the virus in a manner that could be used to manipulate its genetic material.

The transfer of Nipah and Ebola virus strains from the National Microbiology Lab (NML) in Winnipeg to the WIV in March 2019 has heightened unease around biosecurity and the potential misuse of dangerous pathogens. The involvement of Xiangguo Qiu, a former NML scientist with undisclosed ties to the Chinese regime and military, in facilitating this transfer led to her dismissal and sparked investigations into potential security breaches.

Dr. Quay’s discovery that the Nipah strain found in the WIV’s data matched a Bangladesh strain sent from Canada suggests a possible link between Canadian samples and risky research being conducted at the WIV.

Sean Lin, a former virology lab director at Walter Reed Army Hospital and a contributor to The Epoch Times, echoes these concerns and points out the potential for enhanced human-to-human transmission of the Nipah virus to be weaponized. Western research centers and governments, says Mr. Lin, need to understand the military dimensions of Chinese research institutes, especially under the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) military-civil fusion mechanisms, which aim to integrate civilian and military research and development.

The ability of Nipah to cause severe brain damage and neuropathic syndromes, while not killing the host immediately as Ebola does, could allow for a longer period of infection and increased human-to-human transmission before being detected or contained, says Mr. Lin.

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