Explained: Anthony Fauci and the 'Wuhan virus' controversy

Anthony Fauci, the foremost authority on infectious diseases in the US and the Covid-19 pandemic's public face, will leave the federal government in December. Since 1984, Fauci, 81, has served as the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In 1968, at the age of 27, he started working at the National Institutes of Health.

Pioneer in handling infectious diseases

Fauci advised seven US Presidents throughout the course of a career that lasted close to five decades. Even before the coronavirus spread around the world, he was a pioneer in the federal response to HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. He most recently worked as US President Joe Biden's physician advisor. Before Covid-19 shook the world, he enjoyed a successful run for a number of years.

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Fauci practically got himself into trouble when dealing with COVID-19 in the US. Then came his order to not initially wear a mask, which he later changed, and his doubts about the origins of the Covid-19 virus. Additionally, he disagreed with MPs from Donald Trump's party and the former US president.

Fauci's allegation

The 3,000 emails, which revealed how he handled Covid-19 in the early days of the outbreak and were obtained by the Washington Post, Buzzfeed News, and CNN under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), caused the most debate surrounding Fauci's allegation.

Wuhan lab controversy

The largest biomedical research institute in the nation's director sent Dr Fauci an email in January 2020 suggesting that the virus's "odd traits" showed it may have been created. Fauci responded by promising to get in touch over the phone.

In 2021, Fauci once more stated his suspicion. On May 11, 2021, Fauci was questioned over the possibility of the virus naturally occurring at the United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking. Fauci responded by stating that he was not persuaded by the theory. According to Fauci, "I am not convinced with the theory that the virus "developed naturally."

"I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we find out to the best of our ability exactly what happened. Certainly, the people who investigated it say it was the emergence of from an animal reservoir that then infected individuals, but it could have been something else, and we need to find that out," Fauci said.

Did the US fund a lab in China?

Republicans in Congress claimed in August 2021 that there was "ample evidence" that the US had supported a lab in China to develop a human-infecting virus. Senator Rand Paul said that US funds were being used to "gain-of-function," a process that makes viruses more lethal and contagious.

This assertion had been refuted by Fauci, who oversaw NIAID as part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the US government.

Denying facts

However, it was also discovered that NIH 2014 had given funding to a group that worked with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, according to BBC. The NIH awarded $3.7 million to the US-based EcoHealth Alliance, of which $600,000 was granted to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The project was extended for a further five years in 2019, but the Trump administration cancelled it once the virus started to spread. Despite all of this, Anthony Fauci insisted that NIH did not support research in 2020 that contributed to the Covid-19 virus.

(with inputs from agencies)