A novel coronavirus originating in Wuhan City, China has sickened more than 7,800 people and killed 170 since scientists first discovered it in December. The virus has spread to 18 countries outside of China and in 4 of those countries—including the US—there have been cases of human-to-human transmission. On Thursday, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern in hopes of helping nations stop the spread of the virus.
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A novel coronavirus hits China – Chemical & Engineering News
By the Numbers:
7818
People confirmed to be infected by the novel coronavirus
170
People who have died of novel coronavirus infection
19
Number of countries reporting novel coronavirus infections, including China
Source: World Health Organization Jan. 30, 2020 situation report
As research teams worldwide race to characterize the virus, called 2019-nCoV and also known as the Wuhan coronavirus, governments have taken drastic action to contain its spread. The residents of Wuhan City have been quarantined. Airlines have canceled some flights in and out of China, and several countries, including the US, have imposed an isolation period for anyone returning from the affected region. On Friday, the US government decided to quarantine 195 people who were evacuated from Wuhan to the US.
Here is what we know—and don’t know—about 2019-nCoV.
Where did 2019-nCoV come from?
Coronaviruses are endemic to several species, and until 2019-nCoV popped up, there were five that could infect humans, says Tracey Goldstein, a wildlife infectious disease expert at the University of California, Davis. These spherical, 120–nm-wide viruses have an RNA genome that is relatively unstable, and mutates frequently.
Coronavirus infection
Coronaviruses are RNA viruses that typically enter human cells when their glycoproteins bind proteins on the cell surface. In the case of the virus that causes SARS, that human protein is angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). At this time, scientists think the novel coronavirus is similar enough to SARS that its entry point is likely ACE2 as well.
Credit: Scientificanimations.com/C&EN/Shutterstock
Goldstein says that 2019-nCoV is similar to the coronavirus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, so it’s likely that transmission of the Wuhan virus is similar. Bats are the original reservoir for these viruses. Mutations to the viral genome allow a virus to infect a secondary animal, further mutations enable it to infect humans, and possibly more mutations allow it to quickly spread from human to human. The intermediate animal in the spread of the SARS virus was a cat-like creature called the civet. Researchers are still trying to figure out what the intermediate animal is for the Wuhan virus.
This novel coronavirus is thought to have originated in a “wet” market in Wuhan City where live and dead animals are sold. Scientists report that live animals available at the market just before the outbreak included seafood, hedgehogs, badgers, snakes, and birds (bioRxiv 2020, DOI:10.1101/2020.01.24.919183). These animal markets are considered a hot spot for cross-species transmission of viruses.
“The danger of zoonotic transmission was clear, so I was not completely surprised by the outbreak,” says Rolf Hilgenfeld, a researcher at the University of Lubeck who is currently in China to develop small-molecule inhibitors for coronaviruses. “But the timing was not predictable, and the magnitude is surprising.”
SARS also made its zoonotic jump to people in a Chinese “wet” market. Peter Hotez, an infectious-diseases expert at Baylor College of Medicine, says that the Chinese government had an opportunity to prevent this outbreak. “After SARS happened, the government’s plan was to outlaw them, but clearly that law was not enforced,” he says.
Hilgenfeld says that the SARS coronavirus and 2019-nCoV are similar. The part of the glycoprotein that binds human cells on the Wuhan coronavirus appears to be identical to the binding site of the SARS coronavirus glycoprotein, he says. Hilgenfeld and others think that the Wuhan virus likely attaches to the same cell-surface molecule as the SARS virus does, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 or ACE2 (bioRxiv 2020, DOI: 10.1101/2020.01.26.919985).
Mode of transmission
Bats harbor several coronaviruses, and some of these find their way to humans through an intermediate animal source. In the case of SARS, it was a cat called the civet. In the case of MERS, it was camels. Scientists are still trying to determine how the novel coronavirus jumped from animals to humans.
Credit: C&EN/Shutterstock
What are the characteristics of the disease?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, coronaviruses, in general, cause respiratory illness, with fevers, runny noses, coughs, and sore throats. This new coronavirus appears to be no different. Disease severity for 2019-nCoV has been variable, with some people requiring hospitalization and others reporting mild symptoms.
The World Health Organization reported that the novel coronavirus’ R0, which is a number that describes a disease’s spread, is between 1.4 and 2.5, meaning every infected person will, on average, infect about two more people. A team of researchers in China calculated the R0 as between 2.24 and 3.58 (bioRxiv 2020, DOI: 10.1101/2020.01.23.916395v2). The R0 of seasonal flu is about 1.4, but varies. For measles, it’s between 12 and 18.
The Chinese government is reporting spread between humans who are not showing symptoms of the disease, so some virus carriers might be missed in these calculations.
Some infected people are being treated with interferon and a combination HIV drug called Kaletra (iopinavir and ritonavir) sold by AbbVie. Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have published a list of drugs they say could work against the coronavirus’ main protease, including the antibiotic colistin, several antitumor drugs, and perphenazine, an antipsychotic. Knocking out the virus’s protease prevents it from successfully replicating. Hilgenfeld hopes to collaborate with local Chinese researchers to test his inhibitor of the coronavirus main protease inhibitor on cells in culture. This alpha-keto amide compound works against the SARS virus, so he thinks it will also work on the Wuhan coronavirus. He would still need to do clinical trials with the compound, so he has no illusions that his compound will be deployed during this outbreak.
Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society
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Grande Prairie RCMP issued a warning Friday after it was revealed fentanyl linked to a deadly overdose was mixed with a chemical that doesn’t respond to naloxone treatment.
The drugs were initially seized on Feb. 28 after a fatal overdose, and this week, Health Canada reported back to Mounties that the fentanyl had been mixed with Bromazolam, which is a benzodiazepine.
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Mounties say this is the first recorded instance of Bromazolam in Alberta. The drug has previously been linked to nine fatal overdoses in New Brunswick in 2022.
The pills seized in Alberta were oval-shaped and stamped with “20” and “SS,” though Mounties say it can come in other forms.
Naloxone treatment, given in many cases of opioid toxicity, is not effective in reversing the effects of Bromazalam, Mounties said, and therefore, any fentanyl mixed with the benzodiazepine “would see a reduced effectiveness of naloxone, requiring the use of additional doses and may still result in a fatality.”
From January to November of last year, there were 1,706 opioid-related deaths in Alberta, and 57 linked to benzodiazepine, up from 1,375 and 43, respectively, in 2022.
Mounties say officers responded to about 1,100 opioid-related calls for service, last year with a third of those proving fatal. RCMP officers also used naloxone 67 times while in the field, a jump of nearly a third over the previous year.
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CFIA continues surveillance for HPAI in cattle, while sticking with original name for disease – RealAgriculture
The Canada Food Inspection Agency will continue to refer to highly pathogenic avian influenza in cattle as HPAI in cattle, and not refer to it as bovine influenza A virus (BIAV), as suggested by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners earlier this month.
Dr. Martin Appelt, senior director for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in the interview below, says at this time Canada will stick with “HPAI in cattle” when referencing the disease that’s been confirmed in dairy cattle in multiple states in the U.S.
The CFIA’s naming policy is consistent with the agency’s U.S. counterparts’, as the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has also said it will continue referring to it as HPAI or H5N1.
Appelt explains how the CFIA is learning from the U.S. experience to-date, and how it is working with veterinarians across Canada to stay vigilant for signs of the disease in dairy and beef cattle.
As of April 19, there has not been a confirmed case of HPAI in cattle in Canada. Appelt says it’s too soon to say if an eventual positive case will significantly restrict animal movement, as is the case with positive poultry cases.
This is a major concern for the cattle industry, as beef cattle especially move north and south across the U.S. border by the thousands. Appelt says that CFIA will address an infection in each species differently in conjunction with how the disease is spread and the threat to neighbouring farms or livestock.
Currently, provincial dairy organizations have advised producers to postpone any non-essential tours of dairy barns, as a precaution, in addition to other biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of cattle contracting HPAI.
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Toronto reports 2 more measles cases. Use our tool to check the spread in Canada – Toronto Star
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Canada has seen a concerning rise in measles cases in the first months of 2024.
By the third week of March, the country had already recorded more than three times the number of cases as all of last year. Canada had just 12 cases of measles in 2023, up from three in 2022.
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