Beijing has never fully co-operated with international investigators, impeding the search for a definitive answer. But scientists continue their quest to establish the causes of a global health crisis that killed millions of people, caused trillions of dollars of economic damage and increased fears over the risks of virus research.

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

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

It was unclear the extent to which the agency has collected new intelligence on COVID-19's origins and whether that new evidence was used to formulate the latest assessment.

After years of speculation, the CIA has weighed in yet again: A lab leak is now considered the likely origin of the COVID pandemic. However, the agency admits it has "low confidence" in its conclusion and says both a natural origin and a research-related incident are still possible.

The origin of Covid-19 has always been a point of contention in the U.S., but the CIA recently claimed they now believe it came from a lab leak. In a statement on January 25, a spokesperson for the government organization shared the “CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely than a