Ever since news spread of the new strand of Coronavirus in China, the world has been on high alert. At UW, three students were recently screened for the virus and the next day all the masks came out. But for those who are seriously nervous about the new and unfamiliar virus that is spreading with each day, here are some basics about the virus and its origins, transmission, and symptoms.
There are many different types of human Coronaviruses.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause respiratory illnesses such as the common cold, pneumonia, and bronchitis, according to the CDC. Most people get infected with coronaviruses at one point in their lives, but symptoms are typically mild to moderate. The type that we are hearing about all over the news is a newly identified coronavirus called 2019-nCoV. The virus first appeared in Wuhan, in peple who had recently visited a local market that sold seafood and animal products – therefore many officials theorize that the virus came from animals and passed onto humans through consumption.
This is not the first Corona outbreak! Compared to other corona outbreaks: credit NPR
The scope:
It has spread to 13 other countries, but all countries outside of China have fewer than 10 cases as of January 22: Hong Kong (eight cases), Thailand (eight), Taiwan (five), Australia (five), Macau (six), Singapore (five), USA (five), Japan (four), South Korea (four), Malaysia (four), as well as France (three), Canada (one), Vietnam (two), Cambodia (one), Germany (one), Ivory Coast (one), Sri Lanka (one) and Nepal (one), according to the Johns Hopkins University virus dashboard Yes, there have been cases in the US and even Washington – but these individuals were all from the Wuhan region and therefore were not in America when they caught the disease. It has yet to spread and get passed on beyond visitors from Wuhan. The CDC is also investigating 110 people from 26 different states for a possible infection with the new virus, as of January 27. 32 of the people under investigation have tested negative for the virus.
Transmission of this specific virus:
Coronavirus can pass through the air and through physical contact. Human coronaviruses most commonly spread from an infected person to others through the air by coughing and sneezing; close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands; touching an object or surface with the virus on it, then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes before washing your hands
Symptoms:
Symptoms of the new coronavirus include fever, cough and difficulty breathing. Despite sharing some symptoms that were similar to SARS (another human coronavirus), there are “some important differences,” such as the absence of upper respiratory tract symptoms like runny nose, sneezing and sore throat and intestinal symptoms like diarrhea, which affected 20% to 25% of SARS patients There is no vaccine for the new coronavirus but researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health confirmed they were in preliminary stages of developing one.
What you can do according to the CDC:
– Wash your hands frequently.
– Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
– Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
You can track up-to-date incidents of the Coronavirus on a dashboard created at Johns Hopkins University: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6