A recent Daily Mail report reveals that scientists affiliated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) are involved in a project funded by U.S. taxpayer money to import bats for research in the United States. According to the Daily Mail, a new laboratory, financed by U.S. taxpayers, is under construction in Colorado. This facility aims to import bats globally to study dangerous diseases.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has provided Colorado State University (CSU) with a $6.7 million grant to establish this new bat laboratory in collaboration with EcoHealth Alliance (EHA). This funding decision comes amidst calls from House and Senate Republicans for the NIH to cease federal funding to EcoHealth Alliance, which has historically channeled taxpayer funds to the WIV.
Furthermore, in late September 2023, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) allocated an additional $1.7 million to CSU and EHA for developing a CSU breeding facility and the construction of the bat lab.
Addressing concerns, Greg Ebel, a CSU virologist and project leader for the bat research facility, clarified in July: “This isn’t a bat COVID lab. It’s not a bioweapons lab. We’re not working with Ebola or Nipah virus or any of these things. I’m not interested in losing my job or going to jail or interested in doing research that’s going to carry home pathogens to my wife or my child. Those kinds of things are beyond ridiculous.”