There are two key unanswered questions surrounding the novel coronavirus: How easily can it be transmitted between people? And how dangerous is it? The next month in the outbreak could be critical in revealing clues to better answer those questions, infectious disease experts say.
In Canada, officials have confirmed a case in Ontario, a presumptive case related to the first and a presumptive illness in British Columbia.
Health officials in Canada and the U.S. stress that while human-to-human transmission of the virus has occurred, it is most likely when someone is in close, prolonged contact with a person who is infected.
Chinese health authorities said Tuesday that the new coronavirus has infected more than 4,500 people in China, including 106 who’ve died.
In Germany, Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan, the virus has spread person-to-person, rather than from a traveller arriving from China, heightening concerns the virus might transmit more easily than thought.
The virus has also spread to several other countries.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday to share information on the outbreak.
“Both WHO and China noted that the number of cases being reported, including those outside China, is deeply concerning,” the United Nations health agency said in statement on Tuesday. “Better understanding of the transmissibility and severity of the virus is urgently required to guide other countries on appropriate response measures.”
Early information during an outbreak should be viewed with caution because it is often based on the worst cases involving patients who die or need intensive care or hospitalization.
But how many people lack symptoms or aren’t sick enough to seek medical care isn’t known, so the full picture of the illness, such as the extent of mild cases, isn’t yet clear.
Dr. Michael Gardam, an infectious disease physician and chief of staff at Humber River Hospital in Toronto, said before symptoms start, the risk of someone spreading infectious particles is thought to be small.
“When they have symptoms they are also coughing and spraying the virus out,” Gardam said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters that spread of the virus when people don’t have symptoms is rare.
