A disturbing report from the Daily Caller has revealed that a group of scientists with ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, you know, the place that might have given birth to COVID-19, are now utilizing taxpayer dollars to import bats and do Ebola experiments on them, right here on our own soil. Apparently, we have learned absolutely nothing from doing gain-of-function research on animals, have we? This is the problem with the scientific community. Why can’t these folks understand that you shouldn’t screw around with dangerous things like this, not even in the name of science?
“According to a Daily Mail report, a new lab, funded by U.S. taxpayers, is being built in Colorado that will import bats from around the world to experiment on dangerous diseases. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) granted Colorado State University (CSU) $6.7 million to build a new bat lab in partnership with EcoHealth Alliance (EHA). This is despite House and Senate Republicans calling on the NIH to terminate federal funding to EcoHealth, which has for years funneled taxpayer money to the WIV,” the report said.
As if that wasn’t disturbing enough, the report from the DCNF also discovered that in the later part of September 2023, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, formerly headed up by the infamous Anthony Fauci, donated a massive $1.7 million to both CSU and EHA so they could create the CSU breeding facility and the construction of the bat lab.
A CSU virologist, Greg Ebel, who is also heading up the bat research facility’s projects stated back 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.”
Listen, there’s probably a good chance this man means what he says. However, accidents happen. Mistakes can be made. There are just some things you shouldn’t play around with. This is one of them. I feel like I’m repeating myself, but things that are important are often worth saying over and over until the point gets through the thick heads of those in charge.
“However, the project description for the September 2023 NIH grant for the CSU/EHA bat lab states the bat lab would be used specifically to study those pathogens. The grant was uncovered by White Coat Waste Project (WCW), a taxpayer watchdog organization, and shared first with the Daily Caller,” the report added.
“We will capture horseshoe bats and Indian flying foxes, respective reservoir hosts of Nipah virus and SARS-related coronaviruses, in Bangladesh where they will be quarantined and provided veterinary care as they adapt to captivity. Bats will be shipped to CSU to establish the breeding colonies as a resource for investigators who study these viruses… Finally, we will perform experimental infection studies of Nipah virus, SARS-CoV-2 and the SARS-related coronavirus, RaTG13,” the description goes on to say.
A document that was obtained by the same organization that has its roots in a 2022 CSU Board of Governors meeting demonstrates the CSU will be conducting Ebola experiments on bats alongside NIAID’s Rocky Mountain Lab.
Lawmakers have responded to the news about these upcoming projects with concern.
“The world just lived through a once-in-a-century pandemic, likely caused by a lab leak involving risky research on bat coronaviruses, funded in part by NIH. Instead of pausing to reflect on this, NIH continues sponsoring similar experiments on bat coronaviruses—with some of the same mad scientists who collaborated with China’s Wuhan Institute — right here in America! You would have to be blind as a bat to think this is a good idea. NIH needs to take a timeout from funding these batty studies before history repeats itself,” Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst said in comments addressed to the Caller.
Just last year, Ernst put forth a bill that would have blocked federal funding to EcoHealth Alliance. The bill said, “[n]o funds authorized or appropriated by Federal law may be made available for any purpose to EcoHealth Alliance, Inc, including any subsidiaries and related organizations that are directly controlled by EcoHealth Alliance, Inc.”
“Experts agree that COVID was caused by Dr. Fauci’s bat coronavirus experiments in Wuhan and we can’t let the NIH ramp up this risky and unnecessary animal research on our shores. I’m leading efforts to make sure Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars aren’t flowing to EcoHealth Alliance and gain-of-function research that can lead to a pandemic or be exploited for a bioterrorist attack,” Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, said in remarks to the Daily Caller.
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