The US Government has quietly terminated a program to identify exotic viruses found in wildlife that might one day infect humans, following safety concerns.
“Discovery & Exploration of Emerging Pathogens–Viral Zoonoses” — “DEEP VZN” — short for — was a $124million, five year program launched late in 2021 by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The project was engaged in pathogen classification in areas of Africa, Asia, and Latin America believed to offer a high risk of viral spillover into humans.
DEEP VZN was the successor to a decade-long virus-hunting program called “Predict”, which collected more than 140,000 biological samples, from which were identified 1,200 viruses with the potential to infect humans — including more than 160 novel coronaviruses.
This long-running legacy came to a discreet end in July, an investigation published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has revealed, with the USAID informing the aides of Democrat and Republican members of relevant Senate committees that DEEP VZN was stopping.
In a statement published in October 2021 announcing the launch of DEEP VZN, USAID said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how infectious diseases threaten all of society, up-ending people’s lives and attacking societies at their cores.
“It is also a strong reminder of the connection between animals, humans, and the environment, and the effect that an emerging pathogen spilling over into humans can have on people’s health and on global economies.
“The Biden–Harris Administration is committed to advancing global health security, international pandemic preparedness, and global health resilience.
“Outbreaks do not respect geographic boundaries and can spread rapidly, jeopardizing the health, safety, and economic security of every country — including the United States.
“DEEP VZN will advance the US Government’s global health security and foreign policy priorities by supporting efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to new infectious disease threats abroad.”
DEEP VZN has faced criticism from skeptics of the program within both major political parties and beyond — with concern that the effort to get ahead of potential pandemics might inadvertently bring about the exact outcome it sought to mitigate against.
Such “misgivings”, argues investigator David Willman, “continue to resonate, as the cause of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the world’s deadliest such event in a century, remains unproved.”
According to the BMJ, for example, December 2021 saw two senior White House officials — Daniel Gastfriend, director for biodefense and pandemic preparedness at the National Security Council and Jason Matheny, President Biden’s deputy assistant for technology and national security — privately approach USAID Administrator Samantha Power.
Expressing their concerns over DEEP VZN, they reportedly then advised her to terminate the program. Subsequently, similar fears were also privately raised with USAID staff by Dr T. Gregory McKelvey, Jr, assistant director for biosecurity with the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Ms Power reportedly promised Gastfiend and Matheny that she would begin a review of DEEP VZN to see if it might be conducted in such a way that suitably managed the risks.
Earlier this week, however, USAID told the BMJ that it had elected instead to “end the DEEP VZN” program, with the decision a reflection of “the relative risks and impact of our programming.”
Matheny — who left the White House last year — told the BMJ that “it seems likely that the agency assessed that the risk exceeded the benefits of the program.”
Rather than announcing the termination of DEEP VZN, its end was mentioned inside the State Department’s fiscal year 2024 appropriation, published on July 20 this year, following a series of behind-the-scenes exchanges between the Senate and USAID.
It reported: “The Committee notes the decision by USAID to cease funding for the exploration of unknown pathogens.”
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