Scientists think the new virus spreading rapidly through Central China first became capable of infecting humans at the beginning of December. By December 31st, public health officials reported that they had patients with the then-unknown virus to the World Health Organization (WHO). Two weeks later, scientists had isolated and published the virus’s genetic sequence, determining that it was a type of virus called a coronavirus, which is part of the family of viruses that also caused the SARS outbreak.
That fast turnaround highlights the progress made in biotechnology and in public health response to novel viruses over the past few decades. By comparison, the SARS virus emerged in November 2002, but it took until April 2003 for scientists to get a full genetic sequence. It took several months of disease spreading in Western Africa in 2013 before authorities determined it was caused by Ebola. It took around a year to identify Zika as the cause of illnesses in Brazil in 2014 and 2015.
“It’s been extremely rapid,” says Kristian Andersen, director of infectious disease genomics at the Scripps Research Translational Institute. The process moved quickly even though it’s flu season in China, which likely made the process more complicated than usual. Clinicians had to first figure out that the illnesses they were seeing were unusual and not just caused by the normal flu. “I’ve been quite impressed by how fast this whole response went. It’s extremely difficult, to realize you have an outbreak, be able to isolate the virus, sequence it, and share data. This is not easy.”
Epidemiologists are pouring attention into the virus because they fear it could be a serious health threat. So far, China’s health authorities report that over 500 people have been infected with the new virus, and 17 people have died. Cases have also been confirmed in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand in people who had recently returned from China. One case has been reported in the US in Washington state. The virus can cause a high fever and difficulty breathing in severe cases, while mild cases may look more like a common cold. Early cases were linked to a seafood market in Wuhan, a city in Central China.
The response shows the improvements China has made in its public health system since SARS. At that time, there was limited infrastructure in place. But after the outbreak, billions were invested in infectious disease facilities and reporting systems across the country. The country also disclosed the new virus to WHO almost immediately. With SARS, the Chinese government attempted to conceal the extent of the outbreak and hid cases from WHO inspectors.
“Compared to back when SARS came around, certainly China has improved tremendously. It probably has one of the best public health systems in the world,” Andersen says. The US might be able to respond as quickly if it was faced with a novel virus, he says, but not faster.
Advances in genetic sequencing technologies also helped scientists quickly identify the new virus. It’s much easier to figure out the full sequence of a virus than it was even a few years ago, Andersen says. “It’s better even between this and Zika, which was difficult to sequence.”
Once scientists had the full genetic sequence of the virus, they were able to quickly develop tests to diagnose the new coronavirus in people suspected of having the illness, which were published by WHO on January 17th. “It’s a domino effect, really,” says Timothy Sheahan, a coronavirus expert and assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. “New sequencing technologies make lots of different things more rapid.”
That includes research on the new coronavirus. As soon as the sequences were published, scientists were able to send it off to companies that build synthetic viruses. “We can synthetically resurrect this virus outside of China and study its biology without having to rely on someone sending it in the mail,” Sheahan says. “The rate at which that happens is completely crazy.”
Having information so soon after the new coronavirus jumped to humans may help officials start to contain it, Andersen says, by letting them know what they’re dealing with and allowing the development of diagnostic tests that confirm cases. “Having the ability to rapidly identify these viruses and identify that you have a new virus is helpful,” he says. But, he adds, speed can only do so much — especially if a virus is spreading directly from person to person, as this one is. “With that, it becomes very difficult to stop the spread no matter what you do.”
There are still a lot of unknowns around the new virus, including uncertainty about how quickly or easily it can pass from person to person. That’s a key issue, Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a press conference. An easily spread virus could create a broader epidemic.
The emergence of the new virus is consistent with the around once-a-decade spread of a human coronavirus seen since the start of the century: SARS spread in 2002, and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), also caused by a coronavirus, circulated in 2012. Coronaviruses are common in animals and can be found in most wild species. But before SARS, the coronaviruses that infected humans only caused mild respiratory illnesses. Public health experts and virologists learned a lot from fighting both SARS and MERS in the past 20 years that can apply to the current outbreak — most importantly, that coronaviruses are dangerous.
“SARS taught the world a lot of things, one of which is that coronaviruses can emerge and cause severe human disease,” Sheahan says. “People are more aware now.”
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
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