NIH Doctor Flagged Wuhan Virus Lab Safety Problems as Early as 2017

In 2017, an NIH doctor flagged safety issues at the Wuhan lab linked to the COVID-19 lab leak theory, suggesting NIH knew about problems there earlier.

Workers next to a cage with mice inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, capital of China's Hubei Province, on Feb. 23, 2017. Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

A doctor working for the U.S. government in 2017 visited the China-based virus research facility that may have leaked the pathogen that causes COVID-19, and sounded the alarm on safety issues at the lab earlier than previously reported, according to documents obtained by The Epoch Times.

Dr. Ping Chen, who worked for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in October 2017 and prepared a report for her superiors after her visit.