WASHINGTON (FOX) — On Thursday, China rejected a World Health Organization plan for a second phase of investigation into the coronavirus origins, which would include audits of laboratories and markets in the City of Wuhan.

Illinois Congressman Darin LaHood told Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria”, he believes the pandemic could have started in a lab.

“There’s evidence that researchers at the Wuhan lab, in the fall of 2019, became sick with COVID-19 symptoms, and nothing was done about it We know the Chinese military was actively involved in the Wuhan lab prior to the outbreak,” LaHood said.

LaHood said an evidence-based investigation into the origins of the coronavirus could help prevent a future pandemic.

“How are we ever going to prevent another pandemic, if we don’t know the genesis of this pandemic? And, China has been arguably deceitful, and non-transparent,” LaHood said.

Many researchers have said there’s little evidence for the lab hypothesis, and it’s more likely the coronavirus jumped from animals to humans like past pandemics.

To investigate the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Joe Biden has called for the intelligence community to analyze information through a 90 day review.