Huff, an Army combat veteran and former federal nuclear lab employee, joined EcoHealth in 2014, believing the organization monitored global wildlife populations to "predict and forecast" pandemics. Over time, he realized the company’s public claim of predicting pandemics was a "giant boondoggle."
Instead, the company was "running around the planet collecting infectious disease samples to build a bank or a library of infectious diseases," Huff said. He added:
"It was odd ... there’s not a ton of publication value in cataloging infectious diseases. You can get one simple publication from identifying a new or novel pathogen in a species, but it’s sort of a one-and-done thing. It doesn’t really drive future research."
Huff began investigating EcoHealth’s research portfolio and the work of other vice presidents, as well as projects involving other staff. It soon became "apparently obvious" that the organization was conducting gain-of-function research and viral discovery aimed at producing novel pathogens.
EcoHealth was creating new deadly viruses, according to Huff.
EXPANDING GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCH INTO CHINA
Peter Daszak, Ph.D., president of EcoHealth, asked Huff to help him expand the company’s portfolio of research in China. Huff refused.
The Chinese have a pattern of "lie, cheat and steal," he recalled telling Daszak in an executive meeting. "Aren’t you the slightest bit concerned that the Chinese are going to do something nefarious?"
Daszak had a different take, according to Huff. Daszak told Huff that the work with China and the U.S. relationship with the Chinese were very important.
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