CONCEPT - SARS COV 2

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 CONCEPT - SARS COV 2

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• Introduction: The outbreak of the novel betacoronavirus (2019-nCoV) represented a pandemic threat that has been declared a public health emergency of international concern. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses found in both animals and humans. Some infect people and are known to cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). According to the World Health Organization (WHO) on February 16th, 2020, there had been over 51,000 confirmed cases globally, leading to at least 1,600 deaths. 
• What is "novel" coronavirus: A novel coronavirus (CoV) is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans.  The new, or “novel” coronavirus, now called 2019-nCoV, had not previously detected before the outbreak was reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019.

1. The novel coronavirus emerged in 2019-2020 as a human pathogen in the city of Wuhan in China’s Hubei province, causing fever, severe respiratory illness and pneumonia, a disease named COVID-19
2. The pathogen was characterized as a novel member of the betacoronavirus genus, closely related to several bat coronaviruses as well as SARS-CoV. Compared to SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 appears to be more readily transmitted from human-to-human, spreading to multiple continents.

• Threat level and link with SARS 2003: The 2019-nCoV is from the same family of viruses as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) but it is not the same virus. As with other respiratory illnesses, infection with 2019-nCoV can cause mild symptoms including a runny nose, sore throat, cough, and fever.  It can be more severe for some persons and can lead to pneumonia or breathing difficulties.  More rarely, the disease can be fatal. Older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as, diabetes and heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus.
• Animal contact and transmission: Investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans in China in 2002 and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans. 

1. The animal source of the 2019-nCoV were not identified till March 2020.
2. It’s likely that an animal source from a live animal market in China was responsible for some of the first reported human infections. 
3. To protect oneself, when visiting live animal markets, avoid direct unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals.
4. The consumption of raw or undercooked animal products should be avoided. 
5. Raw meat, milk or animal organs should be handled with care, to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods, as per good food safety practices.

• Human to human transmission: The 2019-nCoV causes respiratory disease and can be transmitted from person to person, usually after close contact with an infected patient, for example, in a household workplace, or health care center.
• Protecting oneself: Many steps are recommended.

1. Wash your hands frequently - Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand rub if your hands are not visibly dirty. Why? Washing your hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub eliminates the virus if it is on your hands. 
2. Practice respiratory hygiene - When coughing and sneezing, cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – discard tissue immediately into a closed bin and clean your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water. Why? Covering your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing prevent the spread of germs and viruses. If you sneeze or cough into your hands, you may contaminate objects or people that you touch.
3. Maintain social distancing - Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and other people, particularly those who are coughing, sneezing and have a fever. Why? When someone who is infected with a respiratory disease, like 2019-nCoV, coughs or sneezes they project small droplets containing the virus. If you are too close, you can breathe in the virus.
4. Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth - Why? Hands touch many surfaces which can be contaminated with the virus. If you touch your eyes, nose or mouth with your contaminated hands, you can transfer the virus from the surface to yourself.  
5. If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early - Tell your health care provider if you have traveled in an area in China where 2019-nCoV has been reported, or if you have been in close contact with someone with who has traveled from China and has respiratory symptoms. Why? Whenever you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing it’s important to seek medical attention promptly as this may be due to a respiratory infection or other serious condition. Respiratory symptoms with fever can have a range of causes, and depending on your personal travel history and circumstances, 2019-nCoV could be one of them.
6. If you have mild respiratory symptoms and no travel history to or within China - If you have mild respiratory symptoms and no travel history to or within China, carefully practice basic respiratory and hand hygiene and stay home until you are recovered, if possible.
7. Avoid consumption of raw or undercooked animal products - Handle raw meat, milk or animal organs with care, to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods, as per good food safety practices.

• Who can catch this virus: People living or travelling in an area where the 2019-nCoV virus is circulating may be at risk of infection. At present, 2019-nCoV is circulating in China where the vast majority of people infected have been reported. Those infected from other countries are among people who have recently traveled from China or who have been living or working closely with those travellers, such as family members, co-workers or medical professionals caring for a patient before they knew the patient was infected with 2019-nCoV.
• The novel coronavirus has recently emerged as a human pathogen in the city of Wuhan in China’s Hubei province, causing fever, severe respiratory illness and pneumonia, a disease recently named COVID-19,” said senior author Dr. Jason McLellan from the Department of Molecular Biosciences at the University of Texas at Austin and colleagues.
• Technical details: The SARS-CoV-2 makes use of a densely glycosylated spike protein to gain entry into host cells. Just two weeks after receiving the genome sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the researchers had designed and produced samples of its stabilized spike protein. It took about 12 more days to reconstruct the 3D atomic scale map, called a molecular structure, of the spike protein. Critical to the success was state-of-the-art technology known as cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), which allows scientists to make atomic-scale 3D models of cellular structures, molecules and viruses. Researchers plan to use their molecule to pursue another line of attack against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, using the molecule as a ‘probe’ to isolate naturally produced antibodies from patients who have been infected with the novel coronavirus and successfully recovered. In large enough quantities, these antibodies could help treat a coronavirus infection soon after exposure. For example, the antibodies could protect soldiers or health care workers sent into an area with high infection rates on too short notice for the immunity from a vaccine to take effect.
• Conspiracy theories: Some say the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was created in a Chinese lab, and escaped! Bats carrying the novel coronavirus are originally found in Yunnan or Zhejiang province, which is more than 900 km from the seafood market at the centre of the investigation on the source. Hence, the chances of bats “flying to the market” are slim. The bats were never sold in the market either, based on several testimonials. So the only possible pathway for the virus is, according to conspiracy theorists, the Wuhan Center for Disease Control & Prevention. This Center which is only about 280 metres from the market and is also adjacent to the Union Hospital - where the doctors who were first infected during the epidemic were working - is advanced as a possible source of the virus. On February 20, 2020, China's Foreign Ministry slammed a media report that the novel coronavirus was created in the lab. 
• WHO’s stand on virus origin: On February 19, 2020, WHO said that there is little evidence that the novel coronavirus which causes COVID-19 disease was produced in a laboratory or as a biological weapon. “COVID-19 is what’s called a coronavirus, it’s a class of viruses that are primarily what we call zoonotic, that they come from the animal kingdom.”

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