As the new Chinese virus continues to claim victims, researchers are working in the laboratory to try to trace its origins.
The balance sheet is getting heavier day by day. The virus that has been raging in China for almost a month has indeed just claimed its 17th victim, while in Geneva the World Health Organization (WHO) is still giving itself a little time to declare or not "an emergency of public health of international concern".
In the meantime, the city of Wuhan, epicenter of the epidemic, has just been quarantined by the Chinese government to prevent the virus from spreading further. All means of public transport - trains, planes, buses and subways - were suspended on Thursday and the highways leading to the city were cut.
For their part, several researchers are also working in the laboratory to try to better understand the virus. What is it about ? How is it transmitted? And more importantly, where does it come from? So many questions that will have to be answered if we want to prevent and treat the disease.
Genetic sequencing initially confirmed that we were dealing with a new type of coronavirus 80% similar to SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) which caused 774 deaths worldwide in 2002-2003 (including 349 in mainland China).
The name "coronavirus" comes to us from its shape, which resembles a crown when imaged under an electron microscope. We know that they are transmitted by air or by touch and that they mainly infect the respiratory tract of mammals and birds.
Although most coronaviruses cause only mild symptoms, some, such as SARS and MERS, can severely damage the respiratory system , sometimes resulting in death. This new virus – dubbed 2019-nCoV – is in the same vein. That is why it is taken very seriously.
We know that the first infected people worked in a local market. In its bays were regularly sold seafood, fish, but also small mammals, birds and reptiles. This suggests that the virus, through genetic mutations, was transmitted from an animal to a human . But then, what animal?
We know that the SARS and MERS viruses first developed in certain bats, which then infected camels which then infected humans.
For this novel coronavirus outbreak, all eyes have naturally turned to the local market . So far, we have never reported any coronavirus infecting aquatic animals. It is therefore more likely that the disease comes to us from another form of life.
By analyzing the virus, the researchers then found that bats, again, could be the source. But it would seem that other animals also served as intermediaries:snakes. Many species of snakes – which hunt bats in the wild – are indeed captured and sold in China for consumption , either for their flesh, or to fight against certain diseases.
In addition, reports from health authorities confirm that several species of snakes were indeed sold in the Wuhan market, which has since closed.
This is therefore the preferred track for the moment, but other questions still remain unanswered. For example, it is unclear whether this type of virus could adapt to both cold-blooded and warm-blooded hosts.
Source
Related articles:
