Warm Wisconsin
Easy as 3.141592653589..
I think I read a novel like this once - Hmmm - Have to admit this update of the world's largest quarantine is thrilling. I want to see how this plays out.
CORONA Main Coronavirus thread
- Thread starter Heliobas Disciple
- Start date
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- Tags
- coronavirus
jward
passin' thru
I trust these twitter-verse sources, and of course NCs business associates, but haven't seen state sponsered comments.
...oops, heres one now substantiating the shutting down of transportation. Now, asking folks not to leave, vs not permitting at threat of lethal force...?
The Associated Press (@AP) Tweeted:
BREAKING: Chinese state media says the city of Wuhan is shutting down outbound flights and trains as new virus spreads more widely. Cases of new viral respiratory illness rise sharply in China View: https://twitter.com/AP/status/1220070134473162753?s=20
...oops, heres one now substantiating the shutting down of transportation. Now, asking folks not to leave, vs not permitting at threat of lethal force...?
The Associated Press (@AP) Tweeted:
BREAKING: Chinese state media says the city of Wuhan is shutting down outbound flights and trains as new virus spreads more widely. Cases of new viral respiratory illness rise sharply in China View: https://twitter.com/AP/status/1220070134473162753?s=20
Started streaming 37 minutes ago
17 people are now dead from the China virus and Wuhan is being put on a transportation lockdown. Get the latest details on the China coronavirus in our LIVE BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE.
China has just announced that all public transport in Wuhan will be shut down, and no trains or planes will be allowed to leave the city, starting in 7 hours. (This is to help prevent spread of the virus.) The China virus, the Novel Coronavirus, began infecting people in December in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The virus can cause pneumonia in those infected. In the past week, the total number of cases has jumped from 41 to 560. The coronavirus has now spread to many parts of China and to other countries including Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States, with suspected cases elsewhere. In this interactive live stream, host Steve Lookner brings you the latest breaking news updates on the China virus, including the new Wuhan transportation lockdown, and he'll also read your comments and questions on the air!
China Virus: 17 Dead, Wuhan Transportation Lockdown - LIVE BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjg_Fr-quTA
17 people are now dead from the China virus and Wuhan is being put on a transportation lockdown. Get the latest details on the China coronavirus in our LIVE BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE.
China has just announced that all public transport in Wuhan will be shut down, and no trains or planes will be allowed to leave the city, starting in 7 hours. (This is to help prevent spread of the virus.) The China virus, the Novel Coronavirus, began infecting people in December in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The virus can cause pneumonia in those infected. In the past week, the total number of cases has jumped from 41 to 560. The coronavirus has now spread to many parts of China and to other countries including Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States, with suspected cases elsewhere. In this interactive live stream, host Steve Lookner brings you the latest breaking news updates on the China virus, including the new Wuhan transportation lockdown, and he'll also read your comments and questions on the air!
China Virus: 17 Dead, Wuhan Transportation Lockdown - LIVE BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE
jward
passin' thru
snippets from the AP article i posted upthread mentioning transport shut downs...
Dr. David Heymann, who headed WHO’s global response to SARS in 2003, said the new virus appears dangerous for older people with other health conditions, but doesn’t seem nearly as infectious as SARS.
“It looks like it doesn’t transmit through the air very easily and probably transmits through close contact,” he said. “That was not the case with SARS.”
Posted for fair use
apnews.com
- Some experts said they believe the threshold for the outbreak to be declared an international emergency had been reached.
Dr. Peter Horby, a professor of emerging infectious diseases at Oxford University, said there were three criteria for such a determination: the outbreak must be an extraordinary event, there must be a risk of international spread and a globally coordinated response is required.
“In my opinion, those three criteria have been met,” he said. - Officials said it was too early to compare the new virus with SARS or MERS, or Middle East respiratory syndrome, in terms of how lethal it might be. They attributed the spike in new cases to improvements in detection and monitoring.
Dr. David Heymann, who headed WHO’s global response to SARS in 2003, said the new virus appears dangerous for older people with other health conditions, but doesn’t seem nearly as infectious as SARS.
“It looks like it doesn’t transmit through the air very easily and probably transmits through close contact,” he said. “That was not the case with SARS.”
Posted for fair use
Chinese city stops outbound flights, trains to fight virus
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese city of more than 11 million people planned to shut down outbound flights and trains Thursday as the world's most populous country battled the spread of a new virus that has sickened hundreds of people and killed 17, state media reported.
apnews.com
20Gauge
TB Fanatic
As I said I am in complete agreement re: the problem being if and when our demand for equipment and personel exceeds our supply.
Not sure where you draw the idea that 80% of those infected need hospitalized. The best and brightest in the field caution we simply do not have a model we can extrapolate numbers from, period. The latest pdf from the WHO that I saw had only 12\300 meeting the criteria for critical, which was the designation that might, but did not necessarily mean ICU n mechanical interventions required. Still a waiting game according to Dr. Majumder and other of the brightest n best informed, at least, last time I checked, and things do change and " mutate" quickly
The 80% was a WAG. Pick a percentage that needs to be hospitalized and I am good with it.
jward
passin' thru
| WHO to hold another meeting tomorrow, no emergency meeting scheduled for today |
BEST OF THE WEB: Masks and airport checks for coronavirus outbreak are there to keep population calm – no government can stop its spread now BEST OF THE WEB: Masks and airport checks for coronavirus outbreak are there to keep population calm - no government can stop its spread now - Russia News Now Karl E on Twitter View: https://twitter.com/therussophile/status/1220075047689293829?s=20
Last edited:
Krayola
Veteran Member
What the heck are they thinking, leaving that stuff? (Unless the rumors are true that it did not originate at the food market, but instead came from the lab. Although, I think if it came from a BSL-4 lab it would be a much deadlier bug)
I had the same question! This seems drastic and I am wondering if it is really much worse than they are admitting. Plus, how are they going to keep 11 million people from leaving?
samus79
Veteran Member
You’re not, without a full on military blockade, if you start seeing reports of large troop movements to secure the city, buckle up.
The Cub
Behold, I am coming soon.
jward
passin' thru
Excellent point you make.
goosebeans
Veteran Member
NCgirl, as soon as I saw that last night I thought of your husband's guy. Was going to ask if he'd already left. What a nightmare for him and his family back home. Prayers up for them.
They shut down roads there all the time. Major highways. The Chinese are used to following orders that we would have no part of. The question remains is it real that they are doing it? Last I heard they were going to try and leave now. Hopefully they get out and If I hear I will post again.
Actually the one guy is back today, told hubby to keep his distance but they had a meeting so....
No, these are 2 different people.
jward
passin' thru
All i could offer are my own WAG.... First tho, i suggest we'd only look at those hospitalized AND NEED ING mech intervention..
...then I d look at a bad flu season and steal their number of total cases \ cases hospitalized \ recovered \ deceased for my figures... :: Shruggin :: good thing we prep and have our knowledge, masks, foods and meds : )
samus79
Veteran Member
My girlfriends son and ex husband are in Beijing, she was talking to them last night and masks are no where to be found, we are considering buying them some N95s and shipping them over to them.
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
More on the shutdown of Wuhan:
View: https://twitter.com/PaulHuangReport/status/1220054382349185024
Paul Huang @PaulHuangReport
1:43 PM · Jan 22, 2020
BREAKING: China's #Wuhan coronavirus disease control authority just issued an order to shut down whole city's public transports and ways out including bus, metro, ferry, inter-city bus, train, and Wuhan airport. Effective from 10am UTC+8 Jan. 23.
Paul Huang @PaulHuangReport
1hr ago
Wuhan has a population of almost 11 million, usually considered 5th or 6th largest cities of China. It is the biggeat hub of Central China.
View: https://twitter.com/PDChina/status/1220060879112282117
People's Daily, China @PDChina
2:09 PM · Jan 22, 2020
No people in #Wuhan, C China's Hubei will be allowed to leave the city starting 10 a.m. of Jan. 23. Train stations and airport will shut down; the city bus, subway, ferry and long-distance shuttle bus will also be temporarily closed: local authority
View: https://twitter.com/PaulHuangReport/status/1220054382349185024
Paul Huang @PaulHuangReport
1:43 PM · Jan 22, 2020
BREAKING: China's #Wuhan coronavirus disease control authority just issued an order to shut down whole city's public transports and ways out including bus, metro, ferry, inter-city bus, train, and Wuhan airport. Effective from 10am UTC+8 Jan. 23.
Paul Huang @PaulHuangReport
1hr ago
Wuhan has a population of almost 11 million, usually considered 5th or 6th largest cities of China. It is the biggeat hub of Central China.
View: https://twitter.com/PDChina/status/1220060879112282117
People's Daily, China @PDChina
2:09 PM · Jan 22, 2020
No people in #Wuhan, C China's Hubei will be allowed to leave the city starting 10 a.m. of Jan. 23. Train stations and airport will shut down; the city bus, subway, ferry and long-distance shuttle bus will also be temporarily closed: local authority
goosebeans
Veteran Member
Glad he made it out. Yikes! I think I would have moved the meeting to skype.
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
View: https://twitter.com/catecadell/status/1219860239396163585
Cate Cadell @catecadell
The latest data here gives an indication of just how quickly we can expect new #WuhanCoronavirus cases to grow now testing capabilities are being expanded. Virus identified 12 days ago, but testing scope widened since the weekend.
12:51 AM · Jan 22, 2020
.
Cate Cadell @catecadell
The latest data here gives an indication of just how quickly we can expect new #WuhanCoronavirus cases to grow now testing capabilities are being expanded. Virus identified 12 days ago, but testing scope widened since the weekend.
12:51 AM · Jan 22, 2020
.
TheSearcher
Are you sure about that?
That is not a good curve...
goosebeans
Veteran Member
Amazing how quickly it's shown up, one person, in four corners of the world
My apologies if this has already been posted.
www.cnbc.com
WHO postpones decision on declaring China coronavirus a global health emergency
PUBLISHED WED, JAN 22 20203:03 PM ESTUPDATED 15 MIN AGO
Berkeley Lovelace Jr.@BERKELEYJR
An ambulance worker in protective clothing boards an ambulance outside the Infectious Disease Centre at Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020.
Justin Chin | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The World Health Organization postponed making a decision Wednesday on whether the mysterious coronavirus that has killed at least 17 people and sickened hundreds of others in China is a global health emergency.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said physicians need more information and he’s asked his committee, who held an emergency meeting in Geneva, Switzerland Wednesday, to reconvene on Thursday.
“Today, there was an excellent discussion during the committee meeting, but it was also clear that to proceed we need more information,” Tedros told roughly 150 reporters on a conference call that was delayed for almost two hours while the committee met.
Tedros said the emergency committee on Wednesday was split on whether to designate the illness a global health emergency. He said WHO has researchers on the ground in China collecting data.
“The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence,” Tedros said.
Chinese authorities say many of the patients with the new illness had come into contact with seafood and meat markets, suggesting the virus is spreading from animals to people. WHO physicians said they’ve found evidence of human-to-human transmission within close contacts, citing family members, and within a health-care environment. They said the virus was stable and not showing any kind of unusual activity.
WHO defines a global health emergency, also known as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, as an “extraordinary event” that is “serious, unusual or unexpected.” The virus that emerged from the Wuhan, China over the holidays has spread throughout Asia, infecting more than 540 people in China, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and the Republic of Korea, according to WHO and Chinese state media.
The U.S. confirmed its first case on Tuesday, a Washington state man who was traveling in China, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
WHO doesn’t enact the emergencies easily, according to Lawrence Gostin, a professor and faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law at Georgetown University. The international health agency has only applied the emergency designation five times since the rules were implemented in the mid-2000.
The last time WHO declared a global health emergency was in 2019 for the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo that killed more than 2,000 people. The agency also declared global emergencies for the 2016 Zika virus, the 2009 H1N1 swine flu and the 2014 polio and Ebola outbreaks.
Declaring an emergency doesn’t give the WHO extra funding or power, but it allows Tedros to ask countries not to impose travel or trade bans.
The meeting came a day after public health officials confirmed the first U.S. case of the virus and two days after officials said that the respiratory illness, which has evoked memories of the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, is capable of spreading from person to person. This weekend, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Homeland Security began screening people flying to the United States from Wuhan, China, where the outbreak is believed to have started.
Chinese state media said Wednesday that government officials in Wuhan, China are suspending all public transportation, including buses, trains, airplanes and ferries, to better combat the coronavirus outbreak. Officials are also asking citizens not to leave the city unless there are special circumstances.
Additionally, people in public places will be required to wear masks to prevent exposure to the illness, local officials said.
The new virus is similar to the flu and can cause coughing, fever, breathing difficulty and pneumonia.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
WHO postpones decision on declaring China coronavirus a global health emergency
The WHO convened an emergency meeting to determine whether the deadly coronavirus that emerged in China is a global health emergency.
WHO postpones decision on declaring China coronavirus a global health emergency
PUBLISHED WED, JAN 22 20203:03 PM ESTUPDATED 15 MIN AGO
Berkeley Lovelace Jr.@BERKELEYJR
- WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said physicians need more information.
- His committee, who held an emergency meeting in Geneva, Switzerland Wednesday, will meet again on Thursday.
- The coronavirus has killed at least 17 people and sickened hundreds of others in China.
An ambulance worker in protective clothing boards an ambulance outside the Infectious Disease Centre at Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020.
Justin Chin | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The World Health Organization postponed making a decision Wednesday on whether the mysterious coronavirus that has killed at least 17 people and sickened hundreds of others in China is a global health emergency.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said physicians need more information and he’s asked his committee, who held an emergency meeting in Geneva, Switzerland Wednesday, to reconvene on Thursday.
“Today, there was an excellent discussion during the committee meeting, but it was also clear that to proceed we need more information,” Tedros told roughly 150 reporters on a conference call that was delayed for almost two hours while the committee met.
Tedros said the emergency committee on Wednesday was split on whether to designate the illness a global health emergency. He said WHO has researchers on the ground in China collecting data.
“The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence,” Tedros said.
Chinese authorities say many of the patients with the new illness had come into contact with seafood and meat markets, suggesting the virus is spreading from animals to people. WHO physicians said they’ve found evidence of human-to-human transmission within close contacts, citing family members, and within a health-care environment. They said the virus was stable and not showing any kind of unusual activity.
WHO defines a global health emergency, also known as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, as an “extraordinary event” that is “serious, unusual or unexpected.” The virus that emerged from the Wuhan, China over the holidays has spread throughout Asia, infecting more than 540 people in China, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and the Republic of Korea, according to WHO and Chinese state media.
The U.S. confirmed its first case on Tuesday, a Washington state man who was traveling in China, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
WHO doesn’t enact the emergencies easily, according to Lawrence Gostin, a professor and faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law at Georgetown University. The international health agency has only applied the emergency designation five times since the rules were implemented in the mid-2000.
The last time WHO declared a global health emergency was in 2019 for the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo that killed more than 2,000 people. The agency also declared global emergencies for the 2016 Zika virus, the 2009 H1N1 swine flu and the 2014 polio and Ebola outbreaks.
Declaring an emergency doesn’t give the WHO extra funding or power, but it allows Tedros to ask countries not to impose travel or trade bans.
The meeting came a day after public health officials confirmed the first U.S. case of the virus and two days after officials said that the respiratory illness, which has evoked memories of the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, is capable of spreading from person to person. This weekend, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Homeland Security began screening people flying to the United States from Wuhan, China, where the outbreak is believed to have started.
Chinese state media said Wednesday that government officials in Wuhan, China are suspending all public transportation, including buses, trains, airplanes and ferries, to better combat the coronavirus outbreak. Officials are also asking citizens not to leave the city unless there are special circumstances.
Additionally, people in public places will be required to wear masks to prevent exposure to the illness, local officials said.
The new virus is similar to the flu and can cause coughing, fever, breathing difficulty and pneumonia.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
HUGE DISCLAIMER. This article is hair on fire doom. It was written by a style editor, not a scientist. It screams to me of a 'how do I get the most clicks' type of article - the key word in the headline being "COULD". A lot of horrible things COULD happen, the world COULD end tomorrow, etc... you get my drift. But because it's out there being read and discussed, I'll add it to the mix.
www.yahoo.com
(fair use applies)
China's coronavirus could have same death rate as Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50m people
Alexandra Thompson Yahoo Style UK
January 22, 2020
China’s deadly coronavirus may have the same death rate as Spanish flu, an expert has warned.
Deaths from the new virus rose to 17 on Wednesday with hundreds of cases now confirmed, increasing fears of widespread contagion.
The previously unknown flu-like coronavirus strain is believed to have emerged from an animal market in central Wuhan city, with cases now detected as far away as the US.
The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 is widely regarded as “the deadliest in history”, and is believed to have infected around
China’s deadly coronavirus may have the same death rate as Spanish flu, an expert has warned.
Deaths from the new virus rose to 17 on Wednesday with hundreds of cases now confirmed, increasing fears of widespread contagion.
The previously unknown flu-like coronavirus strain is believed to have emerged from an animal market in central Wuhan city, with cases now detected as far away as the US.
The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 is widely regarded as “the deadliest in history”, and is believed to have infected around 500 million people worldwide, killing between 20 and 50 million.
Chinese officials have confirmed 440 cases of the new coronavirus strain - 2019-nCoV - so far, with 17 deaths.
Based on existing data, the disease is said to have a 2% death rate. This means that for every 50 people who catch the infection, one will statistically die.
To put this into context, around one in every 1,000 who develop flu die, giving it a death rate of 0.1%.
“This [2019-nCoV’s death rate] could be 2%, similar to Spanish flu,” said Professor Neil Ferguson from Imperial College London.
Professor Peter Horby from the University of Oxford pointed out that fatality estimations are based on “clinical data around hospital cases”.
Of those in hospital, “15%-to-20% are severe cases”, defined as needing ventilation.
Coronaviruses as a class are common, causing everything from the common cold to epidemics like severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).
2019-nCoV is thought to have originated in animals before “jumping” over to humans.
“Novel viruses spread much faster because we have no immunity,” Prof Ferguson said.
Fatalities are occurring as a result of pneumonia, which comes about when a respiratory infection causes the alveoli (air sacs) in the lungs to become inflamed and filled with fluid or pus, according to the American Lung Association.
The lungs then struggle to draw in air, resulting in reduced oxygen in the bloodstream.
“Without treatment the end is inevitable,” said the charity Médecins Sans Frontières.
“Deaths occurs because of asphyxiation.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned there is no specific treatment for coronaviruses
If the infection triggers pneumonia, doctors work to combat the complication.
When a virus is to blame – like 2019-nCoV – pneumonia may be treated via “antiviral medication”, according to the American Lung Association.
Yet, Prof Horby argued there is “no effective anti-viral”.
“Most pneumonia is bacterial,” he said.
These infections tend to respond to antibiotics.
“With viral pneumonia, care is ‘supportive’,” Prof Horby said.
2019-nCoV is not the first coronavirus that has got people panicked.
Sars made headlines in the early 2000s after 774 people died across dozens of countries, mainly in Asia.
Genetic analyses reveal 2019-nCoV is more closely related to Sars than any other coronavirus.
“Sars was nearly universally severe,” Prof Ferguson said.
“Most cases in China are described as ‘mild’.
“We’re not sure what that means.”
What is the coronavirus 2019-nCoV?
The city of Wuhan is at the centre of the outbreak, which likely originated from infected animals at a market.
Most of those who initially fell ill worked at, or visited, the market.
China's National Health Commission confirmed the virus can spread person-to-person, with patients in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
Cases have also arisen in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and the US.
Prof Ferguson claims Wuhan likely has around 4,000 cases, Yahoo UK reported.
Like other strains of coronavirus, 2019-nCoV typically starts with flu-like symptoms, including fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.
Six coronaviruses are known to infect people, with this strain being the “seventh”.
The pathogens trigger mild-to-moderate upper respiratory tract infections, like the common cold, according to the CDC.
In rarer cases, coronaviruses can lead to lower-respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia or bronchitis.
These tend to occur in babies, the elderly or those with weak immune systems.
Coronaviruses commonly spread via coughing, sneezing, shaking hands or touching a contaminated object.
The virus enters the body if contaminated hands touch the eyes, nose or mouth.
In rare cases, faecal contamination is to blame.
US health officials are working on a vaccine against 2019-nCoV; however, it will likely be months before the first stage of trials are underway and more than a year before one is available to the public, CNN reported.
For now, the World Health Organization advises people avoid “unprotected” contact with live animals, thoroughly cook meat and eggs, and stay away from those with flu-like symptoms.
*The death toll was accurate at the time of publication.
China's coronavirus could have same death rate as Spanish flu outbreak in the UK
The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 was “the deadliest in history”, infecting around 500m worldwide and killing 20-to-50m.
China's coronavirus could have same death rate as Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50m people
Alexandra Thompson Yahoo Style UK
January 22, 2020
China’s deadly coronavirus may have the same death rate as Spanish flu, an expert has warned.
Deaths from the new virus rose to 17 on Wednesday with hundreds of cases now confirmed, increasing fears of widespread contagion.
The previously unknown flu-like coronavirus strain is believed to have emerged from an animal market in central Wuhan city, with cases now detected as far away as the US.
The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 is widely regarded as “the deadliest in history”, and is believed to have infected around
China’s deadly coronavirus may have the same death rate as Spanish flu, an expert has warned.
Deaths from the new virus rose to 17 on Wednesday with hundreds of cases now confirmed, increasing fears of widespread contagion.
The previously unknown flu-like coronavirus strain is believed to have emerged from an animal market in central Wuhan city, with cases now detected as far away as the US.
The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 is widely regarded as “the deadliest in history”, and is believed to have infected around 500 million people worldwide, killing between 20 and 50 million.
Chinese officials have confirmed 440 cases of the new coronavirus strain - 2019-nCoV - so far, with 17 deaths.
Based on existing data, the disease is said to have a 2% death rate. This means that for every 50 people who catch the infection, one will statistically die.
To put this into context, around one in every 1,000 who develop flu die, giving it a death rate of 0.1%.
“This [2019-nCoV’s death rate] could be 2%, similar to Spanish flu,” said Professor Neil Ferguson from Imperial College London.
Professor Peter Horby from the University of Oxford pointed out that fatality estimations are based on “clinical data around hospital cases”.
Of those in hospital, “15%-to-20% are severe cases”, defined as needing ventilation.
Coronaviruses as a class are common, causing everything from the common cold to epidemics like severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).
2019-nCoV is thought to have originated in animals before “jumping” over to humans.
“Novel viruses spread much faster because we have no immunity,” Prof Ferguson said.
Fatalities are occurring as a result of pneumonia, which comes about when a respiratory infection causes the alveoli (air sacs) in the lungs to become inflamed and filled with fluid or pus, according to the American Lung Association.
The lungs then struggle to draw in air, resulting in reduced oxygen in the bloodstream.
“Without treatment the end is inevitable,” said the charity Médecins Sans Frontières.
“Deaths occurs because of asphyxiation.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned there is no specific treatment for coronaviruses
If the infection triggers pneumonia, doctors work to combat the complication.
When a virus is to blame – like 2019-nCoV – pneumonia may be treated via “antiviral medication”, according to the American Lung Association.
Yet, Prof Horby argued there is “no effective anti-viral”.
“Most pneumonia is bacterial,” he said.
These infections tend to respond to antibiotics.
“With viral pneumonia, care is ‘supportive’,” Prof Horby said.
2019-nCoV is not the first coronavirus that has got people panicked.
Sars made headlines in the early 2000s after 774 people died across dozens of countries, mainly in Asia.
Genetic analyses reveal 2019-nCoV is more closely related to Sars than any other coronavirus.
“Sars was nearly universally severe,” Prof Ferguson said.
“Most cases in China are described as ‘mild’.
“We’re not sure what that means.”
What is the coronavirus 2019-nCoV?
The city of Wuhan is at the centre of the outbreak, which likely originated from infected animals at a market.
Most of those who initially fell ill worked at, or visited, the market.
China's National Health Commission confirmed the virus can spread person-to-person, with patients in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
Cases have also arisen in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and the US.
Prof Ferguson claims Wuhan likely has around 4,000 cases, Yahoo UK reported.
Like other strains of coronavirus, 2019-nCoV typically starts with flu-like symptoms, including fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.
Six coronaviruses are known to infect people, with this strain being the “seventh”.
The pathogens trigger mild-to-moderate upper respiratory tract infections, like the common cold, according to the CDC.
In rarer cases, coronaviruses can lead to lower-respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia or bronchitis.
These tend to occur in babies, the elderly or those with weak immune systems.
Coronaviruses commonly spread via coughing, sneezing, shaking hands or touching a contaminated object.
The virus enters the body if contaminated hands touch the eyes, nose or mouth.
In rare cases, faecal contamination is to blame.
US health officials are working on a vaccine against 2019-nCoV; however, it will likely be months before the first stage of trials are underway and more than a year before one is available to the public, CNN reported.
For now, the World Health Organization advises people avoid “unprotected” contact with live animals, thoroughly cook meat and eggs, and stay away from those with flu-like symptoms.
*The death toll was accurate at the time of publication.
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Pandemic fears grow as new coronavirus spreads
DW
January 22 2020
The World Health Organization has delayed a decision on declaring a global public health emergency, saying it needs more time to weight the option. Wuhan authorities have locked down the city by suspending all transport.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday postponed a decision to declare a global public health emergency over a new viral illness which has spread across China and reached the United States.
"The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
An emergency meeting of experts will consider further evidence on whether to determine a global public health emergency on Thursday.
Wuhan authorities have effectively locked down the area, shutting down all public transportation services, including high-speed trains in and out of the city.
Authorities in China, where the virus originated, said the number of cases of a new virus had jumped to 444 and the death toll had risen to 17.
'Further spread' possible
Deputy Director of the National Health Commission Li Bin told reporters on Wednesday that all the deaths were reported in the city of Wuhan in the central Hubei province.
The new death toll comes less than a day after the first case in the US was reported. A person with the virus was also found in Hong Kong for the first time. Travelers from China are being screened for the virus at many airports around the world. The UK said it would put enhanced monitoring measures in place for direct flights from Wuhan.
The coronavirus is transmitted via the respiratory tract and there "is the possibility of viral mutation and further spread of the disease," Li said at a news conference. The commission announced measures to contain the virus as millions of people travel across the country for this week's Lunar New Year holiday, including disinfection and ventilation at airports, train stations and shopping centers.
"We are still in the process of learning more about this disease," said Gao Fu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control, at the press conference.
Is the new virus a 'super spreader'?
Li said there was so far no evidence that the new virus was a "super spreader" — meaning it infects a disproportionate number of people. However, he said that it still remained a possibility and a research target for the investigation.
"We will step up research efforts to identify the source and transmission of the disease," Li vowed.
The new coronavirus has caused alarm for its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which also started in China and killed nearly 800 people between 2002 and 2003.
Will the virus spread further?
"At present, during the Lunar New Year, the rise in the mobility of the public has objectively increased the risk of the epidemic spreading and the difficulty of prevention and control," Li also warned.
In addition to the case reported in the US, the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Macau also recorded its first case of pneumonia caused by the virus on Wednesday. The patient was a tourist from Wuhan.
Casino staff in the gambling hub have duly been ordered to wear masks.
More suspected cases have been identified in Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and even Mexico. In Australia, authorities isolated a man in his Brisbane home after he flew back from Wuhan in a suspected coronavirus case. Tests later ruled out an infection.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airlines will allow airline staff to wear surgical masks and will not charge people who cancel or change flights to Wuhan.
No travel to North Korea
Authorities in North Korea, which shares a land border with China, suspended border crossings for all foreign tourists, according to tour operators in China. It was not immediately clear how long the suspension would last.
North Korea has "closed all of their borders until further notice due to coronavirus," Koryo Tours said in an email cited by the AP news agency.
Pyongyang did not immediately confirm the report.
The isolated, Communist-ruled nation had closed its borders during similar health scares, such as the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the Ebola epidemic in 2014.
Pandemic fears grow as new coronavirus spreads | DW | 22.01.2020
DW
January 22 2020
The World Health Organization has delayed a decision on declaring a global public health emergency, saying it needs more time to weight the option. Wuhan authorities have locked down the city by suspending all transport.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday postponed a decision to declare a global public health emergency over a new viral illness which has spread across China and reached the United States.
"The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
An emergency meeting of experts will consider further evidence on whether to determine a global public health emergency on Thursday.
Wuhan authorities have effectively locked down the area, shutting down all public transportation services, including high-speed trains in and out of the city.
Authorities in China, where the virus originated, said the number of cases of a new virus had jumped to 444 and the death toll had risen to 17.
'Further spread' possible
Deputy Director of the National Health Commission Li Bin told reporters on Wednesday that all the deaths were reported in the city of Wuhan in the central Hubei province.
The new death toll comes less than a day after the first case in the US was reported. A person with the virus was also found in Hong Kong for the first time. Travelers from China are being screened for the virus at many airports around the world. The UK said it would put enhanced monitoring measures in place for direct flights from Wuhan.
The coronavirus is transmitted via the respiratory tract and there "is the possibility of viral mutation and further spread of the disease," Li said at a news conference. The commission announced measures to contain the virus as millions of people travel across the country for this week's Lunar New Year holiday, including disinfection and ventilation at airports, train stations and shopping centers.
"We are still in the process of learning more about this disease," said Gao Fu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control, at the press conference.
Is the new virus a 'super spreader'?
Li said there was so far no evidence that the new virus was a "super spreader" — meaning it infects a disproportionate number of people. However, he said that it still remained a possibility and a research target for the investigation.
"We will step up research efforts to identify the source and transmission of the disease," Li vowed.
The new coronavirus has caused alarm for its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which also started in China and killed nearly 800 people between 2002 and 2003.
Will the virus spread further?
"At present, during the Lunar New Year, the rise in the mobility of the public has objectively increased the risk of the epidemic spreading and the difficulty of prevention and control," Li also warned.
In addition to the case reported in the US, the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Macau also recorded its first case of pneumonia caused by the virus on Wednesday. The patient was a tourist from Wuhan.
Casino staff in the gambling hub have duly been ordered to wear masks.
More suspected cases have been identified in Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and even Mexico. In Australia, authorities isolated a man in his Brisbane home after he flew back from Wuhan in a suspected coronavirus case. Tests later ruled out an infection.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airlines will allow airline staff to wear surgical masks and will not charge people who cancel or change flights to Wuhan.
No travel to North Korea
Authorities in North Korea, which shares a land border with China, suspended border crossings for all foreign tourists, according to tour operators in China. It was not immediately clear how long the suspension would last.
North Korea has "closed all of their borders until further notice due to coronavirus," Koryo Tours said in an email cited by the AP news agency.
Pyongyang did not immediately confirm the report.
The isolated, Communist-ruled nation had closed its borders during similar health scares, such as the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the Ebola epidemic in 2014.
Pandemic fears grow as new coronavirus spreads | DW | 22.01.2020
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
I was just coming to post this, it may answer your question:
View: https://twitter.com/ProfDrAMarty/status/1220079345680564224
Aileen Marty @ProfDrAMarty
12:22 PM - 22 Jan 2020
#WuHanPneumonia 72% of the known cases are patients are > 40 years &, 2/3 are male. Those died mostly had underlying health conditions. The source animal or environmental source for 2019-nCoV is under investigation, but not yet known.
20Gauge
TB Fanatic
No kidding.....
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
As for the source question, this article implies they may have found it:
gizmodo.com
(fair use applies)
Deadly Wuhan Virus in China May Have Come from Snakes, Scientists Say
Ed Cara
An hour ago
As an outbreak of a newly discovered SARS-like virus threatens to spiral out of control in China, some scientists think they’ve uncovered its animal origins. Their new research suggests the virus is native to snakes.
The germ in question, dubbed 2019-nCoV for now, is a type of coronavirus. While most coronaviruses that sicken people cause little more than a common cold, they’re potentially very dangerous. These viruses also infect a wide variety of animals, and if an animal-borne coronavirus successfully jumps over to people, our immune systems may be less able to beat them effectively. That unfamiliarity can make them especially virulent, though not necessarily contagious. It’s a pattern that already happened with the related coronaviruses that cause SARS and MERS, which killed anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of their human victims during their initial outbreaks.
When the first cases of 2019 n-CoV began showing up last December in the Wuhan region of China, doctors immediately suspected that it was spread through animals. Many of the first victims had visited a local food market—since shut down—that frequently hosted all sorts of live animals. Since then, the number of new documented victims has erupted, with more than 400 cases overall as of January 21, according to the Chinese government, while at least 17 people have died. Even more worrying is that 2019-nCoV is infecting people who had never visited the market, confirming it’s capable of spreading from person to person like a typical flu.
The new study, published Wednesday in the Journal of Medical Virology, looks at the genetic code of 2019-nCoV, which was identified by scientists working for the Chinese government and shared with the global research community earlier this month.
The researchers, all in China, compared the genetic sequence of 2019-nCoV to other known species of coronavirus. Their initial analysis found that the virus is a mix between a coronavirus that originates in bats and another coronavirus whose host origin is unknown—a process called recombination. This recombination seems most apparent in the part of the virus’ RNA that lets it recognize a cell’s surface receptors. They then concluded that the virus’s most likely natural host is a snake, based on patterns of RNA that the virus shares with other snake-borne coronaviruses. Snakes, perhaps not incidentally, are commonly farmed and sold in China as food and alternative medicine remedies.
Viruses evolve to recognize and hijack their specific host’s cells and make more of themselves. That’s why a dog virus typically can’t make people sick and vice-versa. But sometimes, a virus’s existing genetic machinery can help it infect other animals. Other times, mutations or recombination can give a strain of virus a newfound ability to cross the species barrier.
The genetic shuffling seen in 2019-nCoV, the researchers wrote, “may contribute to cross-species transmission from snake to humans.”
According to Brandon Brown, a public health researcher and epidemiologist at the University of California Riverside, there are still many unsolved questions about 2019-nCoV and its potential for disaster.
SARS and MERS were hard-hitting, for instance, but neither mutated into a strain that was both virulent and incredibly contagious—a scenario that could have very well turned into a globe-spanning pandemic. Initially, 2019-nCoV appeared to be far milder than SARS or MERS, but the reported death toll has risen quickly in recent days. And although we know that 2019-nCoV can spread between people, we don’t know how contagious it is, nor its risk of mutating further.
Regardless, Brown told Gizmodo via email that he sees no reason to delay ramping up our preparation for 2019-nCoV.
“The alternative is to potentially deal with a global epidemic, which can be avoided by doing something like declaring a public health emergency and preparing with additional funding and attention,” he said. “It’s time we do more work and efforts towards prevention rather than responding to a crisis after it occurs.”
A handful of cases of 2019-nCoV have already reached the U.S. and other countries, though all seem to have originated from travel to the Wuhan region of China. And the rapid development of the outbreak has reached a crisis point in China. This afternoon, the Chinese government ordered the complete shutdown of public transportation in Wuhan as well as the cancellation of flights and trains departing from the city of 11 million people.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization convened an emergency meeting in Geneva, Switzerland and deliberated over whether to declare the outbreak an international public health emergency. In a press conference held this afternoon, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization has not made a final decision on the declaration and will reconvene for another meeting Thursday.
Deadly Wuhan Virus in China May Have Come from Snakes, Scientists Say
As an outbreak of a newly discovered SARS-like virus threatens to spiral out of control in China, some scientists think they’ve uncovered its animal origins. Their new research suggests the virus is native to snakes.
gizmodo.com
Deadly Wuhan Virus in China May Have Come from Snakes, Scientists Say
Ed Cara
An hour ago
As an outbreak of a newly discovered SARS-like virus threatens to spiral out of control in China, some scientists think they’ve uncovered its animal origins. Their new research suggests the virus is native to snakes.
The germ in question, dubbed 2019-nCoV for now, is a type of coronavirus. While most coronaviruses that sicken people cause little more than a common cold, they’re potentially very dangerous. These viruses also infect a wide variety of animals, and if an animal-borne coronavirus successfully jumps over to people, our immune systems may be less able to beat them effectively. That unfamiliarity can make them especially virulent, though not necessarily contagious. It’s a pattern that already happened with the related coronaviruses that cause SARS and MERS, which killed anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of their human victims during their initial outbreaks.
When the first cases of 2019 n-CoV began showing up last December in the Wuhan region of China, doctors immediately suspected that it was spread through animals. Many of the first victims had visited a local food market—since shut down—that frequently hosted all sorts of live animals. Since then, the number of new documented victims has erupted, with more than 400 cases overall as of January 21, according to the Chinese government, while at least 17 people have died. Even more worrying is that 2019-nCoV is infecting people who had never visited the market, confirming it’s capable of spreading from person to person like a typical flu.
The new study, published Wednesday in the Journal of Medical Virology, looks at the genetic code of 2019-nCoV, which was identified by scientists working for the Chinese government and shared with the global research community earlier this month.
The researchers, all in China, compared the genetic sequence of 2019-nCoV to other known species of coronavirus. Their initial analysis found that the virus is a mix between a coronavirus that originates in bats and another coronavirus whose host origin is unknown—a process called recombination. This recombination seems most apparent in the part of the virus’ RNA that lets it recognize a cell’s surface receptors. They then concluded that the virus’s most likely natural host is a snake, based on patterns of RNA that the virus shares with other snake-borne coronaviruses. Snakes, perhaps not incidentally, are commonly farmed and sold in China as food and alternative medicine remedies.
Viruses evolve to recognize and hijack their specific host’s cells and make more of themselves. That’s why a dog virus typically can’t make people sick and vice-versa. But sometimes, a virus’s existing genetic machinery can help it infect other animals. Other times, mutations or recombination can give a strain of virus a newfound ability to cross the species barrier.
The genetic shuffling seen in 2019-nCoV, the researchers wrote, “may contribute to cross-species transmission from snake to humans.”
According to Brandon Brown, a public health researcher and epidemiologist at the University of California Riverside, there are still many unsolved questions about 2019-nCoV and its potential for disaster.
SARS and MERS were hard-hitting, for instance, but neither mutated into a strain that was both virulent and incredibly contagious—a scenario that could have very well turned into a globe-spanning pandemic. Initially, 2019-nCoV appeared to be far milder than SARS or MERS, but the reported death toll has risen quickly in recent days. And although we know that 2019-nCoV can spread between people, we don’t know how contagious it is, nor its risk of mutating further.
Regardless, Brown told Gizmodo via email that he sees no reason to delay ramping up our preparation for 2019-nCoV.
“The alternative is to potentially deal with a global epidemic, which can be avoided by doing something like declaring a public health emergency and preparing with additional funding and attention,” he said. “It’s time we do more work and efforts towards prevention rather than responding to a crisis after it occurs.”
A handful of cases of 2019-nCoV have already reached the U.S. and other countries, though all seem to have originated from travel to the Wuhan region of China. And the rapid development of the outbreak has reached a crisis point in China. This afternoon, the Chinese government ordered the complete shutdown of public transportation in Wuhan as well as the cancellation of flights and trains departing from the city of 11 million people.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization convened an emergency meeting in Geneva, Switzerland and deliberated over whether to declare the outbreak an international public health emergency. In a press conference held this afternoon, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization has not made a final decision on the declaration and will reconvene for another meeting Thursday.
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
View: https://twitter.com/shawnxyny/status/1220083537560268800
Shawn Yuan @shawnxyny
1. Here is my megathread on the #WuhanPneumonia virus outbreak - I will be tweeting the latest development/observations/comments on this thread.
2. A quick summary of the situation as of Jan 22: 440 confirmed cases, 9 deaths. human-to-human transmission confirmed, but officials denied the existence of "super-spreader." Experts, however, confirmed 15 medical staff had contracted the virus from a single carrier.
3. The topic #EscapeWuhan has been trending on Weibo. A few days ago there were floods of posts of people “escaping” #Wuhan, but now most of the posts are those who accuse those who escaped of “not having conscience.”
4. First confirmed case in #HongKong - a Wuhan visitor traveled via high speed rail and was quarantined at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. There are currently 117 suspected cases in HK and none of them were confirmed.
5. As of Jan 22, 7:20 PM, there are in total 473 confirmed cases, 137 suspected cases, 25 recovered and discharged, and 9 deaths, all excluding HK, Macau, and Taiwan.
6. @imperialcollege new report estimates a total of 4000 cases in Wuhan alone. The report cautioned against interpreting this as implying the outbreak has doubled the size between Jan 12 and now. On Jan 12, they published a report, estimating 1700+ cases.
7. Apparently, there still aren't enough testing devices in hospitals, especially in Wuhan. So relatives r saying that hospitals are only scheduling CT scans and asking people with viral pneumonia to go home and "self quarantine". Designated hospitals are packed.
8. #BREAKING: as of 10 pm on Jan 22, the death toll has climbed to 17, after adding 8 today. Netizens are speculating if there is a delay in reporting because of such a sudden uptick.
9. One doctor who was early infected is now discharged, and he suspected he was infected through conjunctiva. During his visit to #Wuhan’s hospital, he wore masks the entire time, but didn’t wear googles. The first symptom, as he described, was conjunctivitis.
10. #BREAKING: Wuhan is suspending metro, bus, ferry, and long distance bus service. Airport and train station’s departure halls will also be shut down.
11. Not to say the lockdown isn't going to be effective, but Chinese New Year Eve is in two days, so according to traditions, most people should have already left the city if they planned to do so. For example, 300k passengers left via #Wuhan train station yesterday alone.
12. #BREAKING: @WHO emergency committee has decided to meet again tomorrow to decide whether to declare the outbreak as PHEIC for the need for more evidence.
13. @WHO says the reason why they need to reconvene tomorrow is the lack of precise knowledge of the virus's severity and transmissibility. They say the evidence coming from the Chinese gov is "a little too unprecise."
Shawn Yuan @shawnxyny
1. Here is my megathread on the #WuhanPneumonia virus outbreak - I will be tweeting the latest development/observations/comments on this thread.
2. A quick summary of the situation as of Jan 22: 440 confirmed cases, 9 deaths. human-to-human transmission confirmed, but officials denied the existence of "super-spreader." Experts, however, confirmed 15 medical staff had contracted the virus from a single carrier.
3. The topic #EscapeWuhan has been trending on Weibo. A few days ago there were floods of posts of people “escaping” #Wuhan, but now most of the posts are those who accuse those who escaped of “not having conscience.”
4. First confirmed case in #HongKong - a Wuhan visitor traveled via high speed rail and was quarantined at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. There are currently 117 suspected cases in HK and none of them were confirmed.
5. As of Jan 22, 7:20 PM, there are in total 473 confirmed cases, 137 suspected cases, 25 recovered and discharged, and 9 deaths, all excluding HK, Macau, and Taiwan.
6. @imperialcollege new report estimates a total of 4000 cases in Wuhan alone. The report cautioned against interpreting this as implying the outbreak has doubled the size between Jan 12 and now. On Jan 12, they published a report, estimating 1700+ cases.
7. Apparently, there still aren't enough testing devices in hospitals, especially in Wuhan. So relatives r saying that hospitals are only scheduling CT scans and asking people with viral pneumonia to go home and "self quarantine". Designated hospitals are packed.
8. #BREAKING: as of 10 pm on Jan 22, the death toll has climbed to 17, after adding 8 today. Netizens are speculating if there is a delay in reporting because of such a sudden uptick.
9. One doctor who was early infected is now discharged, and he suspected he was infected through conjunctiva. During his visit to #Wuhan’s hospital, he wore masks the entire time, but didn’t wear googles. The first symptom, as he described, was conjunctivitis.
10. #BREAKING: Wuhan is suspending metro, bus, ferry, and long distance bus service. Airport and train station’s departure halls will also be shut down.
11. Not to say the lockdown isn't going to be effective, but Chinese New Year Eve is in two days, so according to traditions, most people should have already left the city if they planned to do so. For example, 300k passengers left via #Wuhan train station yesterday alone.
12. #BREAKING: @WHO emergency committee has decided to meet again tomorrow to decide whether to declare the outbreak as PHEIC for the need for more evidence.
13. @WHO says the reason why they need to reconvene tomorrow is the lack of precise knowledge of the virus's severity and transmissibility. They say the evidence coming from the Chinese gov is "a little too unprecise."
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
I'll file this under HMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
www.nature.com
(fair use applies)
Inside the Chinese lab poised to study world's most dangerous pathogens
Maximum-security biolab is part of plan to build network of BSL-4 facilities across China.
David Cyranoski
22 February 2017 Updated: 23 February 2017
A laboratory in Wuhan is on the cusp of being cleared to work with the world’s most dangerous pathogens. The move is part of a plan to build between five and seven biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) labs across the Chinese mainland by 2025, and has generated much excitement, as well as some concerns.
Some scientists outside China worry about pathogens escaping, and the addition of a biological dimension to geopolitical tensions between China and other nations. But Chinese microbiologists are celebrating their entrance to the elite cadre empowered to wrestle with the world’s greatest biological threats.
“It will offer more opportunities for Chinese researchers, and our contribution on the BSL-4-level pathogens will benefit the world,” says George Gao, director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology in Beijing. There are already two BSL-4 labs in Taiwan, but the National Bio-safety Laboratory, Wuhan, would be the first on the Chinese mainland.
The lab was certified as meeting the standards and criteria of BSL-4 by the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) in January. The CNAS examined the lab’s infrastructure, equipment and management, says a CNAS representative, paving the way for the Ministry of Health to give its approval. A representative from the ministry says it will move slowly and cautiously; if the assessment goes smoothly, it could approve the laboratory by the end of June.
BSL-4 is the highest level of biocontainment: its criteria include filtering air and treating water and waste before they leave the laboratory, and stipulating that researchers change clothes and shower before and after using lab facilities. Such labs are often controversial. The first BSL-4 lab in Japan was built in 1981, but operated with lower-risk pathogens until 2015, when safety concerns were finally overcome.
The expansion of BSL-4-lab networks in the United States and Europe over the past 15 years — with more than a dozen now in operation or under construction in each region — also met with resistance, including questions about the need for so many facilities.
The Wuhan lab cost 300 million yuan (US$44 million), and to allay safety concerns it was built far above the flood plain and with the capacity to withstand a magnitude-7 earthquake, although the area has no history of strong earthquakes. It will focus on the control of emerging diseases, store purified viruses and act as a World Health Organization ‘reference laboratory’ linked to similar labs around the world. “It will be a key node in the global biosafety-lab network,” says lab director Yuan Zhiming.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences approved the construction of a BSL-4 laboratory in 2003, and the epidemic of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) around the same time lent the project momentum. The lab was designed and constructed with French assistance as part of a 2004 cooperative agreement on the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases. But the complexity of the project, China’s lack of experience, difficulty in maintaining funding and long government approval procedures meant that construction wasn’t finished until the end of 2014.
The lab’s first project will be to study the BSL-3 pathogen that causes Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever: a deadly tick-borne virus that affects livestock across the world, including in northwest China, and that can jump to people.
Future plans include studying the pathogen that causes SARS, which also doesn’t require a BSL-4 lab, before moving on to Ebola and the West African Lassa virus, which do. Some one million Chinese people work in Africa; the country needs to be ready for any eventuality, says Yuan. “Viruses don’t know borders.”
Gao travelled to Sierra Leone during the recent Ebola outbreak, allowing his team to report the speed with which the virus mutated into new strains1. The Wuhan lab will give his group a chance to study how such viruses cause disease, and to develop treatments based on antibodies and small molecules, he says.
The opportunities for international collaboration, meanwhile, will aid the genetic analysis and epidemiology of emergent diseases. “The world is facing more new emerging viruses, and we need more contribution from China,” says Gao. In particular, the emergence of zoonotic viruses — those that jump to humans from animals, such as SARS or Ebola — is a concern, says Bruno Lina, director of the VirPath virology lab in Lyon, France.
Many staff from the Wuhan lab have been training at a BSL-4 lab in Lyon, which some scientists find reassuring. And the facility has already carried out a test-run using a low-risk virus.
But worries surround the Chinese lab, too. The SARS virus has escaped from high-level containment facilities in Beijing multiple times, notes Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Tim Trevan, founder of CHROME Biosafety and Biosecurity Consulting in Damascus, Maryland, says that an open culture is important to keeping BSL-4 labs safe, and he questions how easy this will be in China, where society emphasizes hierarchy. “Diversity of viewpoint, flat structures where everyone feels free to speak up and openness of information are important,” he says.
Yuan says that he has worked to address this issue with staff. “We tell them the most important thing is that they report what they have or haven’t done,” he says. And the lab’s international collaborations will increase openness. “Transparency is the basis of the lab,” he adds.
The plan to expand into a network heightens such concerns. One BSL-4 lab in Harbin is already awaiting accreditation; the next two are expected to be in Beijing and Kunming, the latter focused on using monkey models to study disease.
Lina says that China’s size justifies this scale, and that the opportunity to combine BSL-4 research with an abundance of research monkeys — Chinese researchers face less red tape than those in the West when it comes to research on primates — could be powerful. “If you want to test vaccines or antivirals, you need a non-human primate model,” says Lina.
But Ebright is not convinced of the need for more than one BSL-4 lab in mainland China. He suspects that the expansion there is a reaction to the networks in the United States and Europe, which he says are also unwarranted. He adds that governments will assume that such excess capacity is for the potential development of bioweapons.
“These facilities are inherently dual use,” he says. The prospect of ramping up opportunities to inject monkeys with pathogens also worries, rather than excites, him: “They can run, they can scratch, they can bite.”
Trevan says China’s investment in a BSL-4 lab may, above all, be a way to prove to the world that the nation is competitive. “It is a big status symbol in biology,” he says, “whether it’s a need or not.”
*Updated: The name of the CNAS representative has been removed from this article on request.
Inside the Chinese lab poised to study world's most dangerous pathogens - Nature
Maximum-security biolab is part of plan to build network of BSL-4 facilities across China.
www.nature.com
Inside the Chinese lab poised to study world's most dangerous pathogens
Maximum-security biolab is part of plan to build network of BSL-4 facilities across China.
David Cyranoski
22 February 2017 Updated: 23 February 2017
A laboratory in Wuhan is on the cusp of being cleared to work with the world’s most dangerous pathogens. The move is part of a plan to build between five and seven biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) labs across the Chinese mainland by 2025, and has generated much excitement, as well as some concerns.
Some scientists outside China worry about pathogens escaping, and the addition of a biological dimension to geopolitical tensions between China and other nations. But Chinese microbiologists are celebrating their entrance to the elite cadre empowered to wrestle with the world’s greatest biological threats.
“It will offer more opportunities for Chinese researchers, and our contribution on the BSL-4-level pathogens will benefit the world,” says George Gao, director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology in Beijing. There are already two BSL-4 labs in Taiwan, but the National Bio-safety Laboratory, Wuhan, would be the first on the Chinese mainland.
The lab was certified as meeting the standards and criteria of BSL-4 by the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) in January. The CNAS examined the lab’s infrastructure, equipment and management, says a CNAS representative, paving the way for the Ministry of Health to give its approval. A representative from the ministry says it will move slowly and cautiously; if the assessment goes smoothly, it could approve the laboratory by the end of June.
BSL-4 is the highest level of biocontainment: its criteria include filtering air and treating water and waste before they leave the laboratory, and stipulating that researchers change clothes and shower before and after using lab facilities. Such labs are often controversial. The first BSL-4 lab in Japan was built in 1981, but operated with lower-risk pathogens until 2015, when safety concerns were finally overcome.
The expansion of BSL-4-lab networks in the United States and Europe over the past 15 years — with more than a dozen now in operation or under construction in each region — also met with resistance, including questions about the need for so many facilities.
The Wuhan lab cost 300 million yuan (US$44 million), and to allay safety concerns it was built far above the flood plain and with the capacity to withstand a magnitude-7 earthquake, although the area has no history of strong earthquakes. It will focus on the control of emerging diseases, store purified viruses and act as a World Health Organization ‘reference laboratory’ linked to similar labs around the world. “It will be a key node in the global biosafety-lab network,” says lab director Yuan Zhiming.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences approved the construction of a BSL-4 laboratory in 2003, and the epidemic of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) around the same time lent the project momentum. The lab was designed and constructed with French assistance as part of a 2004 cooperative agreement on the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases. But the complexity of the project, China’s lack of experience, difficulty in maintaining funding and long government approval procedures meant that construction wasn’t finished until the end of 2014.
The lab’s first project will be to study the BSL-3 pathogen that causes Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever: a deadly tick-borne virus that affects livestock across the world, including in northwest China, and that can jump to people.
Future plans include studying the pathogen that causes SARS, which also doesn’t require a BSL-4 lab, before moving on to Ebola and the West African Lassa virus, which do. Some one million Chinese people work in Africa; the country needs to be ready for any eventuality, says Yuan. “Viruses don’t know borders.”
Gao travelled to Sierra Leone during the recent Ebola outbreak, allowing his team to report the speed with which the virus mutated into new strains1. The Wuhan lab will give his group a chance to study how such viruses cause disease, and to develop treatments based on antibodies and small molecules, he says.
The opportunities for international collaboration, meanwhile, will aid the genetic analysis and epidemiology of emergent diseases. “The world is facing more new emerging viruses, and we need more contribution from China,” says Gao. In particular, the emergence of zoonotic viruses — those that jump to humans from animals, such as SARS or Ebola — is a concern, says Bruno Lina, director of the VirPath virology lab in Lyon, France.
Many staff from the Wuhan lab have been training at a BSL-4 lab in Lyon, which some scientists find reassuring. And the facility has already carried out a test-run using a low-risk virus.
But worries surround the Chinese lab, too. The SARS virus has escaped from high-level containment facilities in Beijing multiple times, notes Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Tim Trevan, founder of CHROME Biosafety and Biosecurity Consulting in Damascus, Maryland, says that an open culture is important to keeping BSL-4 labs safe, and he questions how easy this will be in China, where society emphasizes hierarchy. “Diversity of viewpoint, flat structures where everyone feels free to speak up and openness of information are important,” he says.
Yuan says that he has worked to address this issue with staff. “We tell them the most important thing is that they report what they have or haven’t done,” he says. And the lab’s international collaborations will increase openness. “Transparency is the basis of the lab,” he adds.
The plan to expand into a network heightens such concerns. One BSL-4 lab in Harbin is already awaiting accreditation; the next two are expected to be in Beijing and Kunming, the latter focused on using monkey models to study disease.
Lina says that China’s size justifies this scale, and that the opportunity to combine BSL-4 research with an abundance of research monkeys — Chinese researchers face less red tape than those in the West when it comes to research on primates — could be powerful. “If you want to test vaccines or antivirals, you need a non-human primate model,” says Lina.
But Ebright is not convinced of the need for more than one BSL-4 lab in mainland China. He suspects that the expansion there is a reaction to the networks in the United States and Europe, which he says are also unwarranted. He adds that governments will assume that such excess capacity is for the potential development of bioweapons.
“These facilities are inherently dual use,” he says. The prospect of ramping up opportunities to inject monkeys with pathogens also worries, rather than excites, him: “They can run, they can scratch, they can bite.”
Trevan says China’s investment in a BSL-4 lab may, above all, be a way to prove to the world that the nation is competitive. “It is a big status symbol in biology,” he says, “whether it’s a need or not.”
*Updated: The name of the CNAS representative has been removed from this article on request.
naturallysweet
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I hope
Which means everyone starves if they stop shipping food in. They also spread diseases faster, by always sharing air in the stores.
I hope everyone here realize s that Chinese people are not preppers. They don't have root cellars or food stores. They believe all Food should be as fresh as possible, and most people prefer to shop each day, for the food they will eat each day.
Which means everyone starves if they stop shipping food in. They also spread diseases faster, by always sharing air in the stores.
Krayola
Veteran Member
^^^ What do you all think happened here? If he was infected through his eyes, that means he either touched his eye with something contaminated or what else? Through the air? Are the virus particles air-born and entering through the eye? (I know it's just supposition that he got it that way.) I keep thinking surely a doctor would not be so stupid to be touching his face or eyes in that environment!
Well, that just gave me the warm fuzzies.
This is what I thought too but had no proof as to it's existence. Something got out or was released. I haven't gone through all posts yet so I don't know if this is redundant. 11 Million people have been blocked from leaving or others entering the city of Wuhan. All roads blocked and you are required by law to wear a surgical mask. Hunan is a tourist destination and has incredible landscapes and these landscapes were used in the filming of Avatar-https://www.chinadiscovery.com/hunan-tours. html hope I copied this correctly it's just beautiful! In one of my other posts where I was talking about H5N1 and what to use and the effect that Bayer aspirin on FEVER and how it might have been instrumental in spreading Spanish Flu! The detection process as I understand it, is to check for FEVER on passengers coming into this country on board planes. When you have a FEVER, what do you- Reach for the aspirin. So this detection method is not really the best? How many are going to get through???Also note that the CEO/director of Bayer which had a 27% interest in I.G.Farbin was sent to prison for 7 years for directing/being involved in medical experiments on WW2 prisoners. I often wonder how much has changed??? Don't panic just prepare as needed!
Krayola
Veteran Member
I am not a medical professional nor do I want to derail the thread, just wanted to quickly mention that my understanding re: fever is that you don't want to immediately reach for fever-reducing medications. If you immediately lower your fever when sick, the body is not able to fight the virus as easily. I usually don't take medicine for a fever unless the fever gets really high. Sorry for the thread drift.
ETA:
2Dees, forgot to say that I agree with you that this could be a problem using fever as detection. I think we discussed this same thing back during the 2014 Ebola event. If someone is symptomatic, but wants to be able to flee the area, they can take fever reducing medication and then get on a plane undetected.
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