The study, conducted by the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute (GCRI) and Nemesys Insights, surveyed 168 virology, epidemiology and infectious disease experts from 47 countries to get their views on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most experts agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic was most likely caused by natural zoonosis, that is, the transmission of a virus from an animal to humans without interference from virological or biomedical research.

While the vast majority of experts favor natural transmission of the virus, they also acknowledged some possibility that the virus could have been released in a laboratory accident.

Roughly half of the experts believe there are major gaps in understanding the origins of COVID-19, and most of these experts believe that more research could help improve understanding of the issue.

A clear majority of experts agreed that clarity about the origins of COVID-19 would help better understand the potential causes of future pandemics and take action to prevent them.

The experts also put forward several recommendations to prevent future pandemics, including measures to prevent people from becoming infected initially, preventing the spread of infection and mitigating the effects of the pandemic.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused many deaths, many experts believe that future pandemics could be even more devastating, and therefore studying COVID-19, including its origins, will help reduce the risk of future pandemics.