A coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, has jumped to the US. The CDC has announced a case of the Wuhan coronavirus in Washington state, the first case of the virus in the US. There are roughly 300 cases of the coronavirus, which is a cousin of the infamous disease SARS. Six deaths have been reported due to the virus.
Cases have now been detected in five countries, which is causing concern for experts at the World Health Organization. Here’s what you need to know.
The Chinese coronavirus is a highly infectious viral strain that causes sudden, acute pneumonia in patients and does not respond to antibiotics.
This is because unlike a bacterial infection, viruses are nonliving, and thus they are immune to antibiotics and many common forms of treatment.
Researchers investigating the disease suspect that this coronavirus is zoonotic, meaning it began in an animal but somehow jumped to humans after a mutation. Zoonotic diseases are often dangerous, as they are new to us, and no one has built up any antibodies to fight them.
This virus causes many symptoms including:
Those with a weakened immune system, like the elderly or the sick, could develop more serious lower respiratory infections such as pneumonia or bronchitis.
Similar diseases, like SARS and MERS, have been problematic for health agencies in the past. SARS, for its part, has a mortality rate around 10%. SARS is much more deadly in older patients.
It’s unclear right now how similar the Wuhan coronavirus is to SARS and MERS, though the diseases are certainly cousins. Coronaviruses usually run their course and go away on their own in healthy people, but people with compromised immune systems are at high risk.
Coronaviruses spread much like the flu: through bodily fluids, like mucus, saliva and the like. Typically, an infected person’s cough or sneeze will spread the virus into the air. Then, if someone else touches a contaminated object and then touches their mouth or eyes, the disease can enter their body.
The best way to avoid this is to wash your hands often and refrain from touching your face when you’re in public. Additionally, don’t eat or drink from the same container as anyone with symptoms.
There is not currently a vaccine for coronavirus, but one for MERS could be on the way.
