The US intelligence agency's report on the origins of COVID-19 is misleading and can be cited as a showcase for politicizing scientific issues, a senior Ethiopian ruling party official has said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Bikila Hurisa, head of Ethiopia's ruling Prosperity Party's public and international relations, said the origins tracing of COVID-19 should be left to neutral and professional researchers, dismissing the matter as a non-intelligence issue.

"COVID-19 origin(s) tracing is a scientific endeavor and process. Let the world's scientific researchers come together, stand independently and conduct an in-depth scientific investigation to find out the real origins of COVID-19," he said.