Infectious disease specialists Carlos Rio MD and Preeto Malani MD,MJS announced the results of breaking research on February 5, 2020. They published it in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network as important information for clinicians. It detailed their findings on the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak, of which we summarize the main points here.
Genetic Sequencing Data Tracked Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak
Genetic sequencing data traces the origins of life forms, including viruses. Rio and Malani report a single introduction of the virus, to one human being having kick-started the infection chain. The exact location where this happened remains a mystery. However, the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market appears closely related to the first cases.
There’s a 99% possibility the corona virus transmits after an average incubation of 5.2 days. There is however evidence of it also taking as long as 14 days and perhaps activating earlier before incubation is complete. As of February, 2020 there were more than 20,000 known cases of coronavirus strain 2019-nCoV. 98.9 % of these were in China and are receiving treatment.
However, We Can’t Say the Same of All Third World Countries
North America, Europe and Asia have well-developed health systems, and the funds to expand isolation facilities quickly. China, for example was able to lock Wuhan down within a few days of the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak.
However, many African countries have fragile facilities already battling with disease out breaks, says Michael Yao, WHO’s head of emergency operations in Africa. Moreover, while tourists enter and leave through customs check points, the same cannot be said of rural communities. These flow across contrived borders colonizing nations created when they conquered Africa. The possibility of locking down infected tribes there is remote, and moreover there is no inoculation available.
We are not on top of this major health incident yet. According to Rio and Malani, a statistical modelling study suggested 75,815 infected cases in Wuhan alone on January 23, 2020. Let’s hope and pray the scientists got it wrong.
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Preview Image: Wuhan February 6, 2020
