Every year it seems there is an outbreak of some flu-like illness plaguing China. At the end of 2019 into this year, a new virus has emerged in which scientists seem to have found the source of the problem. They are saying the Chinese cobra and the Chinese krait is the likely source of the coronavirus in China.
The Chinese krait is known by many names, but it is a very poisonous snake. It is found in Southeast Asia and southern and central China. Wuhan China is an essential city in China, and this is where the first reports came from those who have the new virus.
Travelers have infected people in their own country and countries abroad, including America. Only one report in the US was found in Seattle, Washington. That person has been quarantine and receiving medical attention. President Trump announced yesterday, there were no other reports, and the situation is being handled with care and well took care of.
Patients have been isolated to avoid contamination, and the spread of the virus and samples of the virus has been taken and given to scientists to photograph and get the genetics of the virus. Scientists say it is a new virus but is in the same family as SARS and MERS. Over the past 17 years, these two viruses have killed hundreds of people.
The new name of this virus is nCoV and is given the title by the World Health Organization (WHO). Like every virus outbreak, questions arise along with the sheer panic. The main thing is to contaminate the virus by locking down the city. No one leaves, no one enters. Everyone who is within the city and the surrounding locations are wearing a mask. Keeping this virus from spreading can eliminate massive problems.
So what is a coronavirus? The name comes from looking at the virus under an electron microscope, and it appears in the shape of a crown. SARS, MERS, and nCoV are all coronaviruses.
Coronaviruses are airborne illnesses, and the gastrointestinal tract and the upper respiratory are affected by this illness. Mammals and birds easily spread and carry the virus. In humans, mild flu-like symptoms are reported with infections of the upper and lower airways. Other complications occur in humans, along with severe respiratory sickness.
There is no vaccine or cure for coronavirus infection. Having the illness does not mean every person will die. It just means the illness has to run its course. If the person is healthy enough, they may survive, but may also have repercussions from the illness.
Scientists also answered questions about illnesses and differences. SARS and MERS are known as zoonotic viral diseases. This means the patients acquired these illnesses from animals. From there, it was spread from person to person. While the virus was inside the animal host, it built up genetic mutations, which allowed the virus to multiply and infect human beings.
The original source of SARS and MERS came from bats, camels, and masked palm civets. Camels became the intermediate host, which allowed the virus to spread to humans.
The 2019 outbreak came from customers or employees from a local seafood wholesale market. They sold processed meats and animals, which include donkeys, poultry, pigs, sheep, foxes, camels, badgers, bamboo rats, reptiles, and hedgehogs. The conclusion came up that the seafood was not the cause, but one of the animals mentioned inside the meat market was infected with the new virus.
The information of the study which came out about the genetic code of nCoV tells us that it is closely related to SARS, where the bats were involved. More details evolved from the data, and it showed snakes were more of the source.
Snakes hunt bats, and they were also sold at the Wuhan market. Since the discovery, the Wuhan Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market has been closed due to the origin and spread of the virus.
One of the problems which scientists face is the seafood market was heavily disinfected while it remains closed. This eliminates the confirmation of what scientists reveal is the source of the new virus. Along with that, it also eliminates the studies on how to prevent or cure the virus.
As for America, we should be without worries. All flights and people who travel from abroad are being checked for the illnesses, and anyone from that part of China is banned from traveling altogether until this situation is resolved and the virus is not a threat.
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