GENEVA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The United States called on China on Monday to allow an expert team from the World Health Organization (WHO) access to "care givers, former patients and lab workers" in the central city of Wuhan, as well as medical data and samples.

China should share all scientific studies into animal, human and environmental samples taken in Wuhan, where the SARS-CoV-2 virus is believed to have emerged in late 2019, Garrett Grigsby of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told the WHO's Executive Board.

China's representative later took the floor to say: "The virus origin studies are of a scientific nature. It needs coordination, cooperation. We must stop any political pressure." (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay and Emma Farge;)