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In 2020, a diseaseAn illness or sickness. spread around the world. The first cases were found in the city of Wuhan, China. Soon, people in almost every country were sick. 

But no-one knew exactly where the illness came from. Now, the director of the FBIThe Federal Bureau of Investigation, which investigates crimes on a national level in the USA. says that Covid-19The official scientific name for the type of coronavirus that swept the world from March 2020. most likely leaked from a laboratoryA room for scientific experiments or research. . 

Not everyone agrees. For a long time, many people thought that the illness jumped from animals to humans at a seafood market in Wuhan. Some think this is still the most likely answer. 

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Other American officials have said they think the illness started naturally and that it did not leak out of a lab.

But some have accused China of trying to stop the world from finding out where Covid-19 came from. The seafood market is near a top scientific laboratory that studies coronavirusesA group of viruses that cause diseases in humans and other animals. . 

Today, more than half of all Americans believe Covid-19 accidentally leaked from a lab. But top officials from countries around the world remain divided. 

Yes! The FBI are a very well respectedAdmired. organisation. If they believe something is true, it is very likely. 

No! Many scientists still think Covid-19 came from the seafood market. But if it was made in a lab, this does not have to mean scientists were trying to make a weapon.