The WHO is asking the United States to share its information on the origin of Covid-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday called on the United States, which has left the organization, to share any information it may have on the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic.

One day after returning to the White House in January 2025, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the United States to withdraw from the WHO. This withdrawal became effective in January, after a mandatory one-year notice period.

The Trump administration had officially embraced the theory that the virus had escaped from a virology laboratory in Wuhan, China.

But the WHO says that Washington has not provided any information on the origin of Covid-19.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recalled on Wednesday during a press conference in Geneva that some countries had publicly stated that they "had information on the origin (of the pandemic), notably the United States."

Several months ago, the WHO wrote to senior US officials, calling on them to "share any information in their possession".

"We have received no information," he lamented.

“We hope they will share their information, because we have not yet determined the origins of Covid,” added Mr. Tedros. He emphasized that “knowing what happened could help us prevent the next pandemic.”

Mr. Tedros has asked all governments that have information on the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic to share it so that the WHO can reach a conclusion, as all research has yielded inconclusive results, and all hypotheses are still on the table.

"We will continue to follow up with all governments that have stated they are in possession of intelligence, including the United States," said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's lead for epidemic and pandemic threat management.

"We do not have these reports to date," apart from those that have been made public, she added.

When the United States' membership in the WHO expired on January 22, US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the WHO of numerous "failures during the Covid-19 pandemic" and of having acted "repeatedly against the interests of the United States."

They had claimed that the organization had "flouted and tarnished everything America has done for it" and that it had "hindered the sharing of... information that could have saved American lives."

"The opposite is true," the WHO retorted.