The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has launched an investigation into the genesis of COVID-19, seeking information from senior U.S. administration officials and former chief epidemiologist Anthony Fauci.

The House Oversight Committee's special subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic is probing, among other things, the theory that the virus originated artificially and was leaked from a Chinese laboratory that received grants from the United States, among other things.

"The American people deserve real answers after years of suffering caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the government's response. The investigation must begin with finding out where and how this virus came to be," subcommittee co-chair Brad Wenstrup is quoted in the press release as saying.

His colleague James Comer said there was "growing evidence of a virus leak from an unsafe laboratory in (the Chinese city of) Wuhan" that was funded by American taxpayers through the EcoHealth Alliance, among other things. He suggested that U.S. authorities may have known this and deliberately concealed it.