--- type: Conversation title: Private channel session 1136 description: "slack conversation, 21 messages, 2021-03-21." tags: - conversation - slack medium: slack message_count: 21 started_at: "2021-03-21T14:25:25" ended_at: "2021-03-21T16:41:07" duration_seconds: 8142 sources: - { id: slack_pm, resource: /sources/slack-pm.md, title: Slack / Private Message Drop, author: "process:senate-hsgac-release" } generated: { by: randpaul-corpus-pipeline/1.0, at: "2026-08-01T12:42:27Z" } status: stable --- A slack conversation of 21 messages spanning 2h 15m. # Metadata - **Started:** 2021-03-21T14:25:25 - **Ended:** 2021-03-21T16:41:07 - **Duration:** 2h 15m - **Participants:** 3 - **Source:** [slack_pm](/sources/slack-pm.md) - **Pages:** 611-614 # Participants * [Andrew Rambaut](/people/andrew-rambaut.md) * [Edward C. Holmes](/people/edward-c-holmes.md) * [Kristian G. Andersen](/people/kristian-g-andersen.md) * [Robert F. Garry](/people/robert-f-garry.md) # Transcript **[2021-03-21T14:25:25] Edward C. Holmes:** Dominic told me that might be a week or two yet and that they had some WHO meetings lined up this week. Colleague just found an alpha coronavirus in a pangolin so clearly these animals are highly susceptible. [shared file(s): pangolin -CoV.png] **[2021-03-21T14:36:27] Robert F. Garry:** Does it have a FCS? **[2021-03-21T14:41:30] Edward C. Holmes:** They only have 3 kb at the moment. Not quite sure which bit. I'll investigate. **[2021-03-21T14:54:11] Robert F. Garry:** Raises a question as to whether pangolins are true reservoirs of multiple CoV lineages (possible) or just occasionally getting infected via spillovers - presumably from bats. Same question can be raised regarding SC1 visavis civets and the occasional raccoon dog - are these species true SC1 reservoirs or occasional spillovers? Related question - have humans gone from being spillover hosts to now being Ebola virus reservoirs? I think you could argue either way. **[2021-03-21T15:02:52] Edward C. Holmes:** I suspect there are reservoirs. We are now seeing multiple lineages over multiple years - with Tommy we have seropositives dating back to Malaysia a few years ago. Hopefully will get sequences very soon. The key point is thatit won't just be bats and pangolins.... **[2021-03-21T15:14:01] Robert F. Garry:** I agree, and glad that Tommy is working hard on this question - it's important. The argument that civets are a true reservoirs of SC1 hinges on the fact that they were involved in both SC1 outbreaks a year apart. Your key point is -well very key! SC1 and 2 both pan-tropic - maybe the pango CoVs are as well. **[2021-03-21T15:33:33] Edward C. Holmes:** China Covid researchers 'in first cluster' Virologist Shi Zheng-li, left, works with her colleague in the P4 lab of Wuhan Institute of Virology in central China's Hubei province in 2017. Picture: Getty Images· SHARRI MARKSONINVESTIGATIONS EDITOR• 6:06AM MARCH 22, 2021• 180 _COMMENTS_ **[2021-03-21T15:33:33] Edward C. Holmes:** Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers working on coronaviruses were hospitalised with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 in early November 2019 in what US officials suspect could have been the first cluster. The US is also examining whether the institute developed SARS-COV-2 while working on a coronavirus vaccine. The US State Department's former lead investigator into the origins of COVID-19, David Asher, said the possibility could not be ruled out that the vaccine was being developed as an "antidote" to a bioweapon.Mr Asher, who has served under both Republican and Democrat administrations, has previously led US government investigations into biological, chemical and nuclear… **[2021-03-21T15:34:09] Edward C. Holmes:** Sharri's piece. **[2021-03-21T15:39:30] Robert F. Garry:** When yuri says the **[2021-03-21T15:40:24] Robert F. Garry:** dude's biology knowledge is lacking - well u be the judge; [shared file(s): image.png] **[2021-03-21T15:42:11] Edward C. Holmes:** Even the conspiracy theorists are not convinced. **[2021-03-21T15:42:18] Robert F. Garry:** Not impressed with Sharri. Mr Asher is definitely a clown. **[2021-03-21T15:43:07] Edward C. Holmes:** Totally. What a shit story. She forgot the add the bit about all these people being SARS-CoV-2 antibody negative. **[2021-03-21T15:44:26] Robert F. Garry:** :woman-facepalming:must have been an over-sight on her part. **[2021-03-21T15:50:40] Robert F. Garry:** Not sure who is managing WHO, but these "delays" are self-inflicted wounds. They really should not be promising areport next week, then another week and then kick the can yet again. Feeding into the Parisites... **[2021-03-21T15:52:28] Edward C. Holmes:** Agreed. WHO are just too bureaucratic. I'll mention this to Dominic. **[2021-03-21T16:01:28] Kristian G. Andersen:** Started out promising - and then just went off the rails.... If they could credibly show that three people at WIV got sick and needed to go to the hospital in November, then that would absolutely be troubling. However, the we started talking about adenoviruses and bioweapons - clearly just idiots doing what idiots do. **[2021-03-21T16:05:12] Edward C. Holmes:** Mad shit. **[2021-03-21T16:09:21] Robert F. Garry:** Maddening that Biden admin seems to have at least partly bought into this shit. **[2021-03-21T16:41:07] Robert F. Garry:** Maybe someone should pass this on to Jessie. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/the-conspiracy-theorists-problem-isnt-what-they-believe/618285/"The psychological traits that lead one down the conspiracy-theory rabbit hole are to some extent present in most ofus. We all like to listen to people who agree with us. We are all prone to reject unwelcome evidence. We are all more engaged by dramatic stories than by gritty policy detail. And we all like to feel that we have insights into the world that others lack. Nobody likes to feel that they are being taken for a fool, so doubting early and often can seem like the smart thing to do. And if we want to think clearly about the…