The coronavirus. The wide spread disease taking the world by storm. It is said that it is a disease similar to a bad flu. This started in Wuhan, China in 2019. How did this start though? There are many theories, but now many people are saying it started in bats.
What is a Coronavirus?
A coronavirus is a family of viruses known for having strains that can cause potentially deadly diseases in mammals and birds. Some of the symptoms for humans are the symptoms of someone with a really bad cold. There are different types of coronaviruses including MERS(Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), SARS(Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), and A novel coronavirus which is a new type of coronavirus that has never been in identified in humans until now with the 2019 Wuhan coronavirus.
How did this start?
There are many speculations on how the coronavirus started. One of them is that it started in the seafood market. But when more people got it they started thinking it came from somewhere else. In a new study though, researchers think it came from bats because two closely related coronaviruses start from bats. Both of those coronaviruses share 88% of their genetic sequence.
How did this spread to Humans?
Coronaviruses are zoonotic which means that they spread from animals to humans. SARS started in civet cats then transferred to humans. MERS started in camels and transferred to humans. coronaviruses spread through wet air, the air from coughs or sneezes, close personal contact, or touching an object that has the particles of the virus.
Casualties
26 countries have confirmed cases of the virus with those being Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, The Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam. These places combined have over 31,000 people with the virus and 600 people who have died from it.
Evacuation
Many people have evacuated from China, but there are still citizens and tourists stranded there. Many places have shut down and markets aren’t restocking shelves. Many cruises and ships from China are now stranded until the coronavirus leaves.
Solution
A scientist working on a cure for the coronavirus says that there might be one. This will be available, at the earliest, at the beginning of 2021. Robin Shattock, the head of mucosal infection and immunity at imperial college in London, told The Brief’s Bianca Nobilo that his team was sharing information with others around the world trying to develop a workable cure. He also said that wearing masks doesn’t protect you that well from the virus. He also says that “ Mass use of masks may well be more of a problem than a solution,”.
In the end, this virus has surprised the world and affected it badly. With China being almost abandoned, to how many people have and have died from the virus. Finally, though, we might have a solution by next year.
