Coronavirus Global Health Emergency, 2019-nCoV

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''The original source of the coronavirus is snakes, according to a study published this week in the Journal of Medical Virology. More specifically, the Chinese cobra and the Chinese krait, both of which are common in southern China and highly venomous.

To understand how the virus could have made the leap from snakes to humans, Inverse spoke to Adolfo Garcia Sastre, professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and infectious disease expert (he was not part of the new study). He tells Inverse that the transmission of viruses from snakes to humans “is very unusual.”

Instead, the transmission of bacteria from reptiles to humans, such as Salmonella, is more common, he says.

To reach their snake-based hypothesis, a team of Chinese researchers took samples of the virus and determined its genetic code, before comparing it to the genetic sequences of other known coronaviruses. Their analysis reveals that 2019-nCoV is closely related to two separate coronavirus samples found in Chinese bats.''
 
"...China's newly certified Level 4 lab, which does research with the most deadly pathogens, according to travel documents obtained by CBC News."

"In July 2019, a rare event occurred in Canada, whereby a group of Chinese virologists were forcibly dispatched from the Canadian National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg, a facility they worked in, running parts of the Special Pathogen Programme of Canada's Public Health Agency. Experimental infections – including aerogenic ones – of monkeys with the most lethal viruses found on Planet Earth comprise nearly a routine therein. Four months earlier, a shipment of two exceptionally virulent viruses dealt with in the NML – Ebola and Nipah viruses – was on its way from NML, ended in [Wuhan] China, and has thereafter been traced and regarded to be improper, specifically put as “possible policy breaches”, or rather but an “administrative issue”, ostensibly."
 
This article details a lot of strong measures being taken in China to attempt to combat the spread of the new Coronavirus. Public transport has been halted in some areas where the virus is known to be spreading. Beijing has even canceled some Lunar New Year celebrations that would have been expected to have large crowds attending.

People (in some areas in China) are being warned against large gatherings of people. Hospitals are seeing large numbers of concerned people.

Lockdowns rise as China tries to control virus
 
Wonder if it is likely that there will be more of these kind of behaviors, imo, speculation.
Coronavirus spotlights Japan contagion risks as Olympics loom
''The disease that has killed 17 people and infected almost 600 has already affected Olympics-related events in China, with the cancellation of boxing matches set for the city of Wuhan, seen as the epicenter of the outbreak, and women’s soccer qualifiers shifted to Nanjing..

Although Japan has seen just one case, the outbreak highlights the risk of contagion given the millions of visitors expected for the Summer Games.

“We have to be very careful about what kind of infectious diseases will appear at the Tokyo Olympics,” Kazuhiro Tateda, president of the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, told a briefing on Wednesday.

“At these kinds of mass gatherings, the risks increase that infectious diseases and resistant bacteria can be carried in.”

The empty seat on a crowded Japanese train: 10 years on, the 'gaijin seat' still grates | The Japan Times
p7-baye-a-20181018-870x491.png

The more things change: Ten years ago, Baye McNeil posted the first entry on his blog, Loco in Yokohama. It was titled "An empty seat on a crowded train." | ADAM PASION
Our Lives | BLACK EYE
The empty seat on a crowded Japanese train: 10 years on, the 'gaijin seat' still grates
 
Taskforce88 said:
Interesting that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was developing the Coronavirus to test vaccines.
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I'm not sure of the details of this, but there are a number of strains of coronavirus. SARS was a coronavirus, as is MERS, the latter currently being active in some areas in the Middle East, and the reservoir/usual host of MERS is the camel.

With global concerns over SARS and MERS, I think it's understandable that virologists would love to find vaccines that would work against these viruses.
 
Hatfield said:
Thanks everyone for the extra information about the Coronavirus.

Its almost a miracle there has not been more "bugs" like this. We are lucky there has not been a recent mass wipeout of humans because of some new bug. Many years ago, the Black Plague and events like that show us that it could happen again if we dont stay vigilant.

Having strong medicines that can combat these bugs is important and so far we have been lucky not to experience a worldwide mass killing due to a bug/virus/bacteria or something like it.

The Ebola Virus is horrific and the Flesh Eating Disease (mersa) are the two that really bother me. For Ebola, I think the scientists and doctors have finally developed some medicines that can sometimes save people if given to them in time. I recall reading about the new medicines the last time there was the Ebola outbreak overseas I think in Africa.

Not sure if they have anything for Mersa yet. The only thing I really know about Mersa are the stories where people have to get limbs amputated to save themselves. Very horrific. And some people catch it while in hospital for other reasons. Scary and it makes me want to avoid hospitals. The next time I have to visit someone in a hospital, I think I will walk in with a Gas Mask, and a BioHazard suit. :)
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I think we have been lucky that things like the Black Death haven't been causing pandemics like that example. Considering how much easier global travel is than in the 1500s or 1600s, and the huge population explosion in cities where people live cheek to jowl, massive gatherings of people, public transport, etc.

We were also very lucky to have the discovery of antibiotics in the last century, and their use has saved the lives of many people. Antibiotics are also essential when people have major operations like open heart surgery.

When antibiotics are prescribed to a patient, there's always a label saying "Finish the course". I was horrified years ago when a friend said she'd taken the antibiotics for a few days, was feeling much better and was saving the rest of the tablets for future use! That is one reason why we're now facing problems with antibiotic resistance.

MRSA (the flesh eating bug) acronym stands for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Staphylococcus is the name of the bacteria group, aureus is the specific strain of Staphylococcus. Methicillin is the strongest antibiotic known for treating that bacteria, and Resistant means that MRSA is a strain which has developed resistance to the best known antibiotic which has always (until now) been good for treating it.

Viruses don't need antibiotics. Antibiotics won't help with a normal cold or flu. People used to think they needed antibiotics, doctors, instead of arguing with patients would sometimes prescribe them to the patient. That's another way to end up with antibiotic resistance. There's no point taking antibiotics unless you have a bacterial infection. And when they are prescribed, finish the course.
 
Hatfield said:
Oh. I do have one question if anyone knows the answer. I often see on the news the people of China and maybe Japan wear the face masks and I always thought they wore those for pollution smog and things like that.

Is pollution and smog the reason they wear those masks or maybe they had heard of dangers about "bugs" and maybe wear the masks to prevent catching a bug from other people?
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People use them for both reasons.

The BBC has an article up right now about wearing masks. The article from the BBC I posted earlier also says that in some places in China, people are being mandated by the government to wear masks when they go outside.

Does it help? It's worth reading the whole article, but here's a few points from it:

Virologists are sceptical about their effectiveness against airborne viruses.

But there is some evidence to suggest the masks can help prevent hand-to-mouth transmissions.

<snip>

Dr David Carrington, of St George's, University of London, told BBC News "routine surgical masks for the public are not an effective protection against viruses or bacteria carried in the air", which was how "most viruses" were transmitted, because they were too loose, had no air filter and left the eyes exposed.

But they could help lower the risk of contracting a virus through the "splash" from a sneeze or a cough and provide some protection against hand-to-mouth transmissions.

<snip>

Dr Connor Bamford, of the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, at Queen's University Belfast, said "implementing simple hygiene measures" was vastly more effective.

"Covering your mouth while sneezing, washing your hands, and not putting your hands to your mouth before washing them, could help limit the risk of catching any respiratory virus," he said.
Click to expand...

Can wearing masks stop the spread of viruses?
 
Amonet said:
I'm not sure of the details of this, but there are a number of strains of coronavirus. SARS was a coronavirus, as is MERS, the latter currently being active in some areas in the Middle East, and the reservoir/usual host of MERS is the camel.

With global concerns over SARS and MERS, I think it's understandable that virologists would love to find vaccines that would work against these viruses.
Click to expand...

Of course. I just found it interesting regarding the location of the lab and the outbreak.
 
Amonet said:
People use them for both reasons.

The BBC has an article up right now about wearing masks. The article from the BBC I posted earlier also says that in some places in China, people are being mandated by the government to wear masks when they go outside.

Does it help? It's worth reading the whole article, but here's a few points from it:



Can wearing masks stop the spread of viruses?
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Excellent information and thanks for replying to my specific question about using Masks.

I totally agree with the article's information that they are probably not fool proof but can offer some preventative means in some cases, so its probably better to wear them than not wear them when we are known to be going to an area with a large population.

The times I have seen the general public peoples of China wearing them, is usually just a news clip and I keep noticing that many of the general public there in the large Chinese cities seem to wear them pretty regularly. On New Year's Eve in NYC, I was watching CNN's New Years Eve coverage and even saw some oriental looking people in the crowd that had those white masks on.

Ive worn them myself when doing work with sanding wood and other woodwork where sawdust is flying around and they definitely do not have total blockage of particles. The air flow can get in around the cracks where the mask touches the face and its hard to keep all the edges sealed.

I actually have 2 real gas masks that are brand new and I keep them handy in case I ever need them. I purchased them during the Y2K scare around Year 2000. LOL Yeah, I have to admit I was one of the ones that went overboard and bought supplies during the Y2K scare. LOL :) The good thing about it is I have 2 brand new Gas Masks if ever needed. LOL

The real Gas Masks like the ones I have are pretty neat and would do a really good job of sealing out things. They have a screw on charcoal filter that screws into the mask and you can change it out with a new filter if ever needed. I doubt I will ever really need to use them but it is a nice feeling to have them handy when news such as this begins to hit the news media.
 
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Done
 
gregjrichards said:
Coronavirus: Infected people seen 'dead in streets' in Chinese city dubbed 'zombieland'

People seen 'dead in streets' in 'zombieland' city amid coronavirus outbreak

These image at the link are frightening and bring home the seriousness and severity of the situation. I hope they can successfully limit the number of people who die or get infected.
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That kind of headline and article is partly why I want to be in this thread. They haven't provided proper evidence of what caused those people to collapse. The man who was standing in a queue for ages waiting for paperwork....could he have fainted from low blood sugar or something?

Wuhan has a similar population to London??? How many people collapse on the street or in a shop or a hospital on the streets of London each day? Posting videos of them, without even having confirmation of the cause of that individual's collapse, is ... well it's more like you'd expect in a conspiracy video on YouTube than it is proper journalism?

Tabloid newspapers often have a lot of fear-mongering stories in them when these kind of viruses are in the news. It can lead people to panic unnecessarily.... and I don't like that happening.

A well-done fear story in a paper can lead to the same kind of adrenaline rush you get from watching a horror movie. It makes people come back for more. It sells papers.

Having said that, thanks for posting it, Greg. I'd like to see any story posted, including the ones I think are fear-mongering, because you can't debunk it if you don't know what's out there needing debunking.
 
This is a Wikipedia link to a chart comparing some numbers for Spanish Flu (1918-20), Swine Flu (2009-10) and seasonal flu.

2009 flu pandemic - Wikipedia

According to that chart approximately 33% of the population was infected by Spanish Flu, and the mortality rate was approx. 2-3%

For seasonal flu, approximately 5-15% of the population might be infected, and an average mortality rate of less than 0.1%

The numbers in Greg's post above are 830 confirmed infected, and 25 deaths. What I've read so far is suggesting deaths are far more likely in elderly people who are already suffering from serious pre-existing conditions, which is what you'd expect from a normal flu.

So 25/830 = 0.03 ... 3% akin to Spanish Flu

However, there was an article on Saturday suggesting back then that there could already be a total of 4000 cases. Not confirmed, presumably because they thought they had a cold or flu and it didn't feel severe enough to visit a hospital.

So let's try with the 4000 figure

25/4000 = 0.0006 more in line with a seasonal flu at less than a tenth of a percent

CNN has listed the mortality rate for SARS at 10% and MERS at 34%.

Right now, my personal prediction would be that this new coronavirus might spread around the world, but at the moment it's looking like it might be more like a seasonal flu, and not as severe as something like SARS or the Black Death or anything of that nature.

How does the Wuhan virus compare to regular winter flu outbreaks?
 
What we know so far
  • The official death toll stands at 26 people, most of them in Hubei province in central China, but two people have died outside of that zone – one man just outside of Beijing, and the other in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, which borders Russia.
  • At least 830 people in China have been confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus so far.
  • The Chinese government has locked down 11 million people in the city of Wuhan, where the virus originated, and nine other cities in the Hubei province, causing chaos on the eve of the Lunar New Year.
  • A new 1000-bed hospital is being built in Wuhan specifically to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, and authorities there expect to have it completed and running by Monday.
  • South Korea has confirmed a second case of the virus, a man in his 50s who had been working in Wuhan earlier this month.
  • Japan has also confirmed a second case of the virus: a Wuhan resident in his 40s who arrived in Japan on 19 January.
  • The US has confirmed one case of the virus in Seattle, while authorities in Texas are investigating a second suspected case
  • 14 people in the UK have been tested for the virus; so far, five have been cleared.
  • Scottish authorities have tested at least six people with coronavirus symptoms.
  • In Australia, at least six people are being monitored for signs of the virus, while public health authorities warn the world is likely to see more cases confirmed in countries outside of China in the coming days.
  • The World Health Organisation’s emergency committee has concluded it’s “too early” to declare an international public health emergency, but says the situation is still to be considered an emergency in China. “It has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one,” said WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

  • Coronavirus: death toll rises to 26 in China, with 830 infected – live news
 
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