A few hours before a meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, which could sound the international alarm, the Chinese authorities announced a new balance sheet of 9 dead and 440 sick.
Just a month ago, China announced the outbreak of a mysterious virus in the city of Wuhan. The first people had all been exposed to seafood and other fish offered at a local food market. If, at the beginning, the Chinese power wanted to be reassuring, since then the situation has evolved considerably. It has now been proven that the virus can spread from human to human , and some fear a new pandemic .
This Wednesday the toll is heavy:9 dead and 440 people affected . Also 2019-nCoV – the name of the virus – has spread to at least five other countries , including the United States which has just recorded a first case. The 30-year-old, a resident of Washington state, had recently traveled to Wuhan but had not frequented the seafood market. Hospitalized with pneumonia last week, his condition has since stabilized.
So far the virus has only appeared in states bordering China. A first case declared in the United States therefore necessarily suggests the worst.
“The appearance of an infected person on our territory means that this disease is on the verge of becoming a pandemic , just like SARS in 2003 , said Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance. The risk is that infected people may not be noticed at the border until they become ill, and then transmit the virus to others, sowing new epidemics. We must be extremely vigilant .
Anxiety is also growing in Beijing ahead of the Lunar New Year celebrations. From next January 25, hundreds of millions of Chinese will travel across the country and to neighboring countries to return to their hometown or to go on vacation. These crossovers will inevitably increase the risk of spreading the virus . Security controls will also be more difficult to implement.
We don't know exactly how the virus spreads or how easy it is to catch it. What we do know is that this family of viruses – called coronaviruses – mainly infects the respiratory tract mammals, sometimes targeting the cells deep in the lungs.
According to the CDC, human coronaviruses are most often transmitted through the airways (coughing, sneezing), or by close contact (shaking hands with a sick person, for example). You can also become infected by coming into contact with an object or surface with the virus on it and then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.
As for symptoms, two of the seven coronaviruses that infect humans (SARS and MERS) can cause severe pneumonia and lead to death. Regarding 2019-nCoV, the main symptoms reported are fever followed by breathing difficulties , according to the WHO. Chest x-rays showed signs of infection in both lungs .
Finally, we remind you that an extraordinary meeting will be held today in Geneva called by the WHO. Several experts will consider whether or not to declare “a public health emergency of international concern (USPPI). Such a decision is usually reserved for the most serious epidemics, such as H1N1 (2009), Ebola (2014 and 2019), or Zika (2016).
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