Reading Room Production — page 192

fety level -4, in Viruses in 2018. 'ruses in 2018, DRAFT, PRE-DECISIONAL Egyptian fruit bats were conducted in the highest-level biosafety level lab, a BSL-4, in December 2016. The results of this study were published in Viruses in 2018. 2. The WIV-1 coronavirus was shipped from WIV. Facts: The WIV-1 virus is named for the institute in China that first identified it. The WIV-1 virus studied at RML was not shipped to the U.S. from China. The WIV-1 genetic sequence was shared in a public database by WIV scientists. UNC investigators employed commonly used virological techniques to generate the virus from the publicly shared sequence. 3. The research determined the novel virus could not cause a 'robust infection'. Facts: The results of the study, which were published in the journal Viruses in 2018, demonstrated that WIV-1 did not replicate well in Egyptian fruit bats. 4. The group WCW Project is now using the Freedom of Information Act to request more details about the experiment. Facts: Since 2019, NIH has received 178 FOIA requests from WCW. Of those, 128 are closed. NIH will continue to respond to WCW FOIA requests. 5. Catoctin Wildlife Preserve (CWP) has a history of animal welfare violations and was fined $12,000 in 2012 for poor and dangerous animal housing and inadequate animal care. Facts: NIH relies on USDA approved animal providers and complies with all import and transport permits, where applicable. The bats were procured by ana USDA licensed dealer (Prim Gen) who sourced research naïve Egyptian fruit bats from the Catoctin Wildlife Preserve that were used in the 2016 study.