Last Update: Jan 2025
Determining the origin of a pandemic is of paramount importance for
preventing and preparing for future outbreaks. Five years after the
onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific debate regarding the
origins of the virus remains unresolved, despite the critical
importance of this question. The origins of the outbreak continue to
be a subject of investigation, with two primary hypotheses under
consideration, a classical zoonotic spillover or an accidental release
from a virology laboratory in Wuhan.
This recurrent international workshop aims at fostering an open
discussion between specialists of different disciplines in order to
address the question of the origins of SARS-CoV-2. It is held by
videoconference on Zoom. This workshop gathers several dozens of
scientists from all around the world, interested in finding out the
proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2. This workshop is open to scientists and
investigators on invitation, and not to journalists. All the
hypotheses are evaluated with scientific criticism. So far, 29
sessions have occurred since January 2021.
The goals of this Workshop are four-fold:
1. Elucidate the origins of SARS-CoV-2
2. Foster discussions and collaborations between researchers from
various relevant fields (virology, modelling, bioinformatics, ecology,
social sciences, etc.) working on the origin of SARS-CoV-2.
3. Have a general overview of the different types of evidences and
approaches currently undertaken to investigate the origin of the
virus.
4. Apply an evidence-based analysis to evaluate the different
hypotheses about the origin of the virus.
For more details and update, see :
https://courtier.ijm.fr/covid-origin-workshop/
Illustration by Nathalie Vessillier,
http://www.myev-art.com/wordpress/