Coronavirus Update

By Brandy Sloan

Recently there have been reports of a deadly coronavirus invading parts of China, and has made its way to the United States, with the first case being diagnosed just last week. The disease has thus far infected over a thousand people, and killed over twenty. 

Currently, five cases of the infection have been documented in the United States. As said before, the fatal virus originated in China. At this point it appears to have come from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, a city about 650 miles south of Beijing, having a population of nearly 11 million people. This market sells fish, as well as an impressive array of exotic meats. Markets have been suspect of being virus origins before, and many of those infected reported they had been to that particular market in recent weeks. However, it will take further research and investigation to determine the exact cause of the spread of this virus. 

People have been debating on whether the coronavirus is in fact, new. Well, to answer that, the research done by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention was put out on January 24th, published by the New England Journal of Medicine. They took three patients, used and electric microscope — which can see nanometers — and analyzed the genetic code of the patients. Through this they were able to genetically identify the coronavirus within the infected individuals. Doing so allowed the team to create tests that identify the virus from a given sample, and give potential insight into possible treatments and vaccines. 

As to how the virus is spread, researchers are working on that. The virus is suspected to have been spread by animal to human contact, but it is apparent that it could possibly be spread from human to human contact as well. The University of Minnesota’s Centers for Infectious Disease Research and Policy found that Chinese health workers had caught the virus, suggesting human to human contact. From this information, authorities in Wuhan are attempting to contain the disease, by building a one-thousand bed hospital for those with the coronavirus, which is planned to open on February third. 

Not much is known about the coronavirus as of late, but there are several teams from different continents where there have been documented cases working on it.