Yesterday the Chinese government canceled all transportation going into and out of the Wuhan Province in China. Today, the government stopped all public transportation trips, theaters, internet cafes, roads and water routes, roads, and highways to control the epidemic. This is effective in 7 Chinese cities in China, affecting 23 million people.
It is not a popular move because this weekend is the Chinese New Year. Hundreds of millions are scheduled to travel all over China. For some, that is the only time to see their family.
This decision is to contain the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus, also known as 2019 nCoV. The present coronavirus problem started from a market in Wuhan, China.
The Wuhan Seafood Wholesale Market is the Epicenter
According to disease detectives, the 2019 nCoV originated from a market in Wuhan. The conclusion was made after knowing that most of the people who get sick of the 2019 nCoV are stallholders at Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.
In some Chinese markets, wild animals are sold for food. Animals can also be infected with coronavirus that is specific for that animal. With different animals in close contact with one another, including humans, the viruses can combine their genes and can create a new species of virus. The n in 2019 nCoV stands for new or novel.
A gene study of the 2019 nCoV showed that it may be a combination of the genes from a bat and a snake.
At this time, nothing is definite of the source animal. The Huanan Market has been ordered closed since January 1, 2000. The epidemic started in mid-December 2019.
What is Wuhan Like?
Wuhan is not a backward rural area where carts are pulled by animals. They don’t use rickshaws to go to work.
Wuhan is the biggest city in Central China, with more than 11 million people. Wuhan is also a transportation hub. It has:
- The Wuhan Railway Hub which is one of the four key railway hubs in China. They have high-speed trains that run at 350km/hr or 220 mph to go all over China. Hong Kong is 4 hours away, and Shanghai is 6.
- Wuhan is also a maritime hub
- Major highways and expressways also pass thru Wuhan
- The Wuhan Tianhe International Airport is one of the busiest airports in central China, with several flights to Europe.
A Level-Four Biosafety Hazard Lab in Wuhan
China’s first level-four biosafety hazard lab is also in Wuhan. It is The Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Biosafety level 4 or BSL-4 laboratories are used for diagnostic work and research on easily transmitted pathogens, which can cause fatal disease. A familiar name is the Ebola virus. Other lesser-known but also as deadly are viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Marburg virus, Lassa virus, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever.
Thousands have Been to Wuhan since December
Since mid-December, thousands have already traveled into and out of Wuhan. Any of them could have been exposed to someone who has the virus and spread it to their destination.
Being a transport hub, it is not a surprise that even with the Huanan market closed, the 2019 CoV is now in different parts of China like Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangdong. It has gone international, and there are cases in HongKong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, Scotland, and the United States.
The total cases worldwide of 2019 CoV, as I write is 632. 18 deaths are in Wuhan and 1 in Beijing.
It Maybe Too Late
The point here is, while restricting the travel of hundreds of millions in China this weekend is commendable, I’m afraid the cat is out of the bag.
With Wuhan being a transport hub, the virus may have already spread worldwide.
Many things about the virus have to be known. The specific animal carrier, animals who have it, how does it spread, the incubation period, and characteristics of the susceptible population and survival rates.
Maybe the Wuhan Institute of Virology can help us.
Let us just hope that it is not as deadly as the SARS and the MERS.
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Don’t Get Sick!
Related Readings:
- The Proper Use of a Personal Protective Equipment Against Infections
- 10 Reasons Why the Wuhan Coronavirus Pneumonia is a Nightmare
- Walking Coronavirus Pneumonia Can Spread the Disease
- UK Epidemic Specialist: 250,000 Chinese with Coronavirus in 10 days
- Coronavirus Infection Precautions
- To Know What’s in Wuhan is to Know Why Coronavirus is a Concern
- Anti Coronavirus Herbs and Drugs
Reference:
- Wei Ji Wei Wang Xiaofang Zhao Junjie Zai Xingguang Li. Homologous recombination within the spike glycoprotein of the newly identified coronavirus may boost cross‐species transmission from snake to human. Journal of Medical Virology. 22 January 2020
- “Undiagnosed pneumonia – China (HU) (01): wildlife sales, market closed, RFI Archive Number: 20200102.6866757”. Pro-MED-mail. International Society for Infectious Diseases. Archived from the original on 22 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- News. China coronavirus: cases surge as official admits human to human transmission. BMJ 2020;368:m236
Image Credit:
Wuhan By 拼却的一醉[1] – http://699pic.com/tupian-500598012.html No.500598012, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68576551
Older BSL-4 suit By CDC/ Brian W.J. Mahy, BSc, MA, Ph.D., ScD, DSc – CDC, PHIL #12743, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15226611
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