New Coronavirus
The world has been shocked by a new virus. At the time this article was written, the virus had caused four people to die and more than 200 people to get sick. Those infected were spread out across six cities in China.
The first case appeared in Wuhan, Hubei Province, central China, in December 2019. Symptoms included fever and difficulty breathing, in some cases leading to more serious symptoms, such as pneumonia or bronchitis.
Virologists have identified the virus as the coronavirus, which gets its name from a protein bulge adorning the outside of the virus that has the shape of a crown. This disease has also spread to other big cities in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Cases were then reported also outside of China, such as South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Thailand.
Historically, the coronavirus is commonly found in animal and human populations, causing colds that are usually not severe. However, the coronavirus has zoonotic characteristics that make its spread difficult to curb, because the virus can jump from animals to humans at any time.
The source
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the new coronavirus is believed to have originated from the fish and live animal market in Wuhan city, which has since been closed and disinfected by the Chinese government.
The new coronavirus is said to be similar to the coronavirus that caused an epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), killing 774 people in China in 2002-2003. The SARS epidemic quickly spread throughout the world in 2003, although sporadic cases in Asia continued after that.
This photo taken on January 22, 2020 shows medical staff members wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan in China\'s central Hubei province. - China banned trains and planes from leaving Wuhan at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed 17 lives, infected hundreds and spread to other countries.
The coronavirus that causes SARS has been traced to horseshoe bats in China, from where the virus sought its way to palm weasels, a small mammal commonly eaten by Chinese people and living in the Himalayan Mountains. This was the beginning of the first 21st century pandemic that shook the world. It spread very fast from one continent to another.
Another coronavirus that caused a pandemic in 2012 was Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which first jumped from camels to humans and also caused respiratory illness.
Unlike SARS, the spread of which was halted in 2013, MERS is still ongoing with a limited distribution. Globally, the total has reached 2,499 cases as of December 2019. Of that number, 861 people died. The majority of cases occurred in the region of Saudi Arabia.
The coronavirus consists of at least three groups that are genetically and antigenetically different and cause digestive, respiratory or systemic diseases in domestic animals and wildlife. For about 70 years, experts have found that the coronavirus has infected mice, bats, rabbits, dogs, cats, turkeys, horses, pigs, cows and camels.
Medical staff attend to patients at Wuhan Central Hospital in Wuhan, China. The hospital posted the photographs to social media on 25 January 2020.
Transmission among species
According to research carried out in the 1990s, transmission of the coronavirus from animals to different animal species has happened before. For example, the coronavirus could be transmitted between pigs, dogs and cats. Its expression and the degree of cross-protection in these heterogeneous hosts varied.
Wildlife as a host of the coronavirus was found before the arrival of SARS. The coronavirus in wild ruminants is antigenically closely related to the coronavirus isolated from domestic calves and can even infect and cause diarrhea in poultry species.
Given the connection between the new coronavirus outbreak and animals, visitors to China are advised not to visit animal markets or wildlife markets that sell exotic meat and to avoid direct contact with farms or wildlife.
Transmission to humans
The coronavirus is essentially dangerous considering its ability to infect various animal species. Its transmission among the animal population makes the spread of this virus difficult to stop. This new outbreak is also thought to have started in animals before spreading to humans, although this rarely happens.
The most famous zoonotic diseases in the world, such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Ebola and influenza H5N1 (bird flu), all spread from wildlife and interact closely with humans before causing a global outbreak.
Like SARS, experts suspect the emergence of the new coronavirus has also been triggered by illegal wildlife trade. Nearly 40 percent of the initial cases of SARS occurred in people who prepared, handled and sold food from wildlife. Other cases occurred in people who lived not far from the wildlife market.
The Chinese government recently confirmed human-to-human transmission, with the discovery of someone being infected by the coronavirus in a family and a number of medical workers who tested positive after treating patients.
Person-to-person transmission often occurs if a person is in contact with the secretions of an infected person. Person-to-person transmission can make the virus spread faster and more widely. There is no specific treatment or vaccine for this new coronavirus.
Our risk of being infected with zoonotic viruses tends to increase in the modern age, because we continue to interact with animals and break through further into their territories through activities such as deforestation.
Our risk of being infected with zoonotic viruses tends to increase in the modern age, because we continue to interact with animals and break through further into their territories through activities such as deforestation.
Climate change also does not help reduce the risks, because global warming allows certain pathogens to last longer in more parts of the world.
Disease response
The Chinese government has shown a high level of vigilance in handling Lunar New Year activities from late January to early February 2020 - a very important event in the Chinese calendar that sees millions of Chinese go on holiday trips by train, bus and airplane to meet relatives, including abroad.
The Chinese government has also redoubled efforts to stop illegal wildlife trade. Such coordinated efforts are expected to be sufficient to stop the coronavirus from spreading throughout the world. Many countries in the world, including Indonesia, have embarked on disease response plans, especially by scanning passengers at airports for possible fever, especially those coming from China.
However, what is most worrying for the world today is the possibility of a global outbreak, just like the SARS pandemic.
Tri Satya Putri Naipospos
All countries, including Indonesia, must prepare themselves for the worst and respond to the disease in an integrated way. A number of countries have issued travel warnings for citizens going to or coming from China.
Tri Satya Putri Naipospos, Chairman II, Central Executive Board of the Indonesian Veterinary Association (PDHI
