Home NEWS What we know (and don’t know) about the new coronavirus outbreak | CBC News

What we know (and don’t know) about the new coronavirus outbreak | CBC News

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What we know (and don’t know) about the new coronavirus outbreak | - News

With the confirmation that a new coronavirus in China has been transmitted between humans, here’s a quick look at what you need to know.Medical staff at the Jinyintan hospital, where the patients with pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus are being treated, in Wuhan, China. (Reuters)The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday that it’s too soon to consider the coronavirus identified in China as an international health emergency — but it could develop into one, the organization’s chief said. As of Jan. 25, 1,287 cases of the newly identified coronavirus have been confirmed in China, most in Wuhan, according to China’s National Health Commission. Forty-one people have died — all in China, including some who had a previous medical condition.There have also been cases reported in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macao and Australia, with most involving people from Wuhan or those who had recently travelled there. More than 1,300 people worldwide have been infected. Here is what we know — and what we don’t know — about the virus.  What is coronavirus? Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses. They cause a range of illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases — such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). SARS was the coronavirus that originated in China in late 2002, and which eventually killed 44 people in Canada and infected more than 400 before the outbreak in China was declared by the WHO to be “under control” on Apr. 28, 2004.  Where did this new coronavirus come from? The WHO’s China office was first informed of cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause on Dec. 31, 2019. The cases were all detected in Wuhan City. A new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was identified as the probable cause by Chinese authorities Jan. 7. The WHO reported the evidence was “highly suggestive” that the source was a seafood market that also sells live poultry and meat from exotic animals in Wuhan. How is it transmitted? Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they pass from animals to humans. But some, like this newly identified strain, can pass directly between humans. Earlier this week, China confirmed there has been human-to-human transmission of the virus. Zhong Nanshan, a respiratory expert, said two people in Guangdong province in southern China caught the disease from family members. According to the Centers for Disease Control in the U.S., coronaviruses are most commonly spread by coughing or sneezing; close personal contact, such as shaking hands; or touching an object or surface with the virus on it and then touching your mouth, eyes or nose.  Travellers wear face masks as they walk outside of the Beijing Railway Station. China reported a sharp rise in the number of people infected with a new coronavirus, including the first cases in the capital. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press) What are the symptoms? The initial symptoms of 2019-nCoV are mainly fever, with a few reports of people having difficulty breathing, and chest x-rays showing signs of pneumonia in both lungs. According to the WHO, signs of infection can include respiratory complaints, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.  The only way to confirm 2019-nCoV is with a lab test. Should Canadians be worried?  The Canadian government urged travellers on Thursday to “exercise a high degree of caution in China due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws,” a notice that is one level below an official travel advisory. Watch | Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discusses the virus: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to reporters during a break in his party’s caucus meeting on Thursday 0:20 The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) deems the risk to Canadians visiting Wuhan as low. But it has updated its travel advisory, urging Canadians to take precautions, such as avoiding large crowds and high-risk areas such as farms and slaughterhouses, and avoiding contact with anyone who is exhibiting symptoms of a coronavirus, such as fever, cough or difficulty breathing. There have been no confirmed cases of the 2019-nCoV in Canada, according to Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam. She says three people in Canada who had travelled to Wuhan were investigated for the virus, but results were negative.  PHAC says it will introduce measures in the coming week, including signs at airports in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, advising travellers from affected areas of the world to inform border services staff of any flu-like symptoms.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised its travel alert for the coronavirus outbreak to a Level 3, recommending people avoid all non-essential travel to Wuhan. A CDC spokesperson later said the agency is seeking emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow states to use its diagnostic test for the outbreak. Earlier this week, the agency said it expected to see more cases in the U.S. after a man was found carrying the virus in Seattle on Wednesday. It has announced plans to expand screening to airports in Atlanta and Chicago after having already started screening people coming on direct flights from Wuhan at New York City’s JFK International Airport, San Francisco International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport. WATCH | How Canadian researchers test for coronavirus: Canadian researchers quickly developed tests for the new coronavirus and CBC News’ Christine Birak learns how they work and why each takes 24 hours to process. 2:40 What we don’t know yet The newly identified coronavirus has created alarm because there are a number of unknowns surrounding it. It is too early to know just how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people, and there is no vaccine yet for the virus. Analysts predicted cases will continue to multiply, although the jump in numbers is also attributable in part to increased monitoring. Dr. Gauden Galea, the WHO’s representative in China, said the number of infected is not an indicator of the outbreak’s severity so long as the death rate remains low.  “Even if [cases] are in the thousands, this would not surprise us,” Galea said. Chinese authorities on Thursday moved to lock down at least three cities — including Wuhan, where the train station and airport were shut down and ferry, subway and bus service was halted. In Beijing, officials cancelled major events indefinitely, including traditional temple fairs that are a staple of holiday celebrations in the capital. Chinese officials have not said how long the shutdowns will last. While sweeping measures are typical of China’s government, large-scale quarantines are rare around the world — even in deadly epidemics — because of concerns about infringing on people’s liberties. The effectiveness of such measures is also unclear. Notable quotes Make no mistake, though, this is an emergency in China. But it has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one. – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general. Watch: Tedros explains why the new coronavirus is not a global emergency yet: The organization’s director-general says the decision is based partly on who is getting the coronavirus at this time.    1:42 To my knowledge, trying to contain a city of 11 million people [Wuhan] is new to science. – Gauden Galea, WHO representative in China. This outbreak is extremely concerning. Uncertainty and gaps remain, but it is now clear that there is person-to-person transmission.  – Dr. Jeremy Farrar, infectious disease specialist. We don’t know enough to know whether we should be worried … If this is a virus that can sustain itself in humans now — is transmitted from person to person and lives in humans — then the Lunar New Year travel will spread it faster in China, no doubt. If this is a virus that is not sustainable in human populations, if it doesn’t transmit well enough, then the Lunar New Year means we’ll see new cases, it will create a lot of concern, but it won’t cause problems.  – Dr. Allison McGeer, infectious disease specialist, Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto WATCH: Dr. Allison McGeer of Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital speaks to CBC News about the new coronavirus outbreak. Infectious disease specialist Dr. Allison McGeer explains why it is critical now to figure out if there is enough human-to-human transmission of a new coronavirus to sustain the current outbreak. 5:40 The one piece of good news we have here is that this is possibly not as virulent a virus as SARS and won’t result in as many deaths, but almost all the other news we have at the moment is unfortunately bad news … Fourteen medical staff infected from the first 200 cases is quite a high number. But on the other hand, the medical staff are in very close contact with the patients there, they’re in the hospital wards and so on. And therefore, they’re at greater risk than the general public.  – Dr. Derek Gatherer, Lancaster University

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