Coronavirus has officially been declared a Pandemic (insert Dr. Cramer flag wave here). A Feb 2nd New York Times article declared about 14,000 lab-confirmed cases in over 23 countries, soaring dramatically from the initial 50 cases in Wuhan, China. There have been over 300 deaths, and epidemiological models estimate that the real number of cases is around 100,000 and maybe even more. Compared to the 2003 SARS or 2012 MERS outbreak, coronavirus has taken an enormous leap in expansion, though still not quite as rapid as the flu or measles. Though the virus is known to be spreading quickly among humans, scientists do not yet know how lethal the new coronavirus is, so there is uncertainty about how much damage a pandemic might cause.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats. These animal viruses rarely infect people, however outbreaks of the novel coronavirus have made the leap. The virus is thought to have started in Chinese wet markets, where living and dead animals are hung in constant close contact, making it very easy for a virus to jump from an animal to a human. On January 22, authorities in Wuhan, China banned the trade of live animals at wet markets as questions regarding the health risks of these markets continued to rise. The specific market where the outbreak might have begun, the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, was shut down on January 1.
The United States reported the first confirmed instance of person-to-person spread with this virus on January 30, 2020 and on that same day, the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern.” Investors have rushed to biotechs working on a coronavirus vaccine. At least a dozen companies have informally or formally announced vaccine or drug development initiatives, and some programs will move into clinical testing within a few months. Some of these programs include drugs already approved for other viral infections, unapproved drugs for other viruses, and new monoclonal antibody vaccines. It is the hope of many scientists that new tech might allow a vaccine in record time, helping to alleviate the rapid global spread of the virus.
micro biology 