The WIV took its bat virus sequence database offline in September 2019 and never republished it
2 events · 1 assessment
Assessed Supported
verdict confidence 0.80
The Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) maintained a large online database of bat and rodent viral samples and genetic sequences — commonly cited as holding roughly 22,000 entries drawn from field collection in Yunnan and elsewhere. Forensic analysis of archived web records, carried out by independent investigators and widely reported since, indicates that this main database went offline on 12 September 2019, several months before COVID-19 was publicly identified in Wuhan, and it has not been restored to public access since. The factual core of the claim — offline in September 2019, and never republicly restored — is well supported by this evidence and is broadly consistent with the WIV's own acknowledgement that the database was taken down; the institute's director, Shi Zhengli, has confirmed removing it. What remains genuinely contested is not the date or the fact of removal but the reason and significance: the WIV attributes the takedown to hacking attempts, while lab-leak proponents treat the pre-pandemic timing as suspicious. That interpretive dispute is separate from the factual assertion assessed here, which the available record favours.
Claim entered the graph