The Coronavirus is Coming Back

The return of the coronavirus is reminiscent of the SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV outbreaks. The WHO has named this new coronavirus 2019-nCoV.

The structure of 2019-nCoV has been analyzed through the lung biopsy of patients with severe pneumonia. One specimen has been further analyzed by breaking down the structure of nucleotides (DNA) through the sequencing method. The nucleotide sequence has been stored in Gen-Bank (accession MN908947). Through phylogenetic analysis, it is known that 2019-nCoV has a close relationship with SARS-CoV (73.0-82.34%) and the Bat-SARS CoV virus (89.12%).

According to the phylogenetic tree analysis, 2019-nCoV is in one cluster with the SARS and Bat-SARS viruses but forms a separate branch. That means 2019-nCoV comes from bats but is different from the character of the BAT-SARS and SARS viruses.

Wuhan, where the first case was found, is an area in central China. The findings came from severe pneumonia of workers at the fish and wild animal markets. If 2019-nCoV comes from bats, the next question is how bats got there. So, the shadow of the SARS and MERS epidemics reappears.

The coronavirus does not only threaten the lives of humans, but also animals.

The SARS outbreak in 2003 killed around 800 people with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 9.6 percent and spread to at least 30 countries. Meanwhile, the CFR of MERS in 2012 was 34.4 percent, although it was still far below the CFR of bird flu, 68-100 percent.

The coronavirus in humans has no prevention and treatment. Moreover, the emergence of infections and the occurrence of outbreaks is difficult to predict, unlike other viruses that can be associated with seasons or intermediary hosts. There has been no information to retest 2019-nCoV on animals in a laboratory, so it cannot be known to be malignant or mild. So, the starting point for the emergence of severe pneumonia is a prediction of the source of the virus.

The coronavirus does not only threaten the lives of humans, but also animals. Livestock often infected includes chickens, in the form of severe respiratory disease (infectious bronchitis virus). The impact does not only lead to sickness and death, but meat and egg production will also decrease.

Kompas

TOPSHOT - People wear masks as they pray at Wong Tai Sin temple on the first day of the Lunar New Year of the Rat in Hong Kong on January 25, 2020, as a preventative measure following a coronavirus outbreak which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan. - Hong Kong on January 25 declared a mystery virus outbreak as an "emergency" -- the city\'s highest warning tier -- as authorities ramped up measures aimed at reducing the risk of further infections spreading.

The coronavirus in cattle can cause at least three symptoms, namely diarrhea in calves, season-related dysentery and respiratory disorders. All are caused by Bovine coronavirus.

In pigs, the journal Nature (4/4/2018) reported that the death of pigs in Guangdong, China, led to the death of about 25,000 piglets due to Swine acute diarrhea syndrome CoV (SADS-CoV) infection. According to studies, there were two new infectious strains of the coronavirus, Swine enteric coronavirus and Porcine respiratory coronavirus (PRCv). It was reported that pigs were infected with Bat-HKU2, which had mutated and used to infect humans.

Camels are associated with MERS, but not goats, sheep or horses. Horses can be infected with other strains of the coronavirus, namely Equine coronavirus (EcoV), which affects the respiratory tract.

Read more : New Coronavirus

Cats are often infected with the Feline coronavirus (FIP) or FIPV (Feline infectious peritonitis virus), which triggers diarrhea. Dogs are easily infected by Canine enteric coronavirus, a disorder of the digestive tract.

Weasels and wolf puppies had been suspected to be related to the emergence of the 2019-nCoV outbreak. Lately, the people of Wuhan are fond of consuming these two and other wild animals. However, the allegations have not been proven.

What role might fish at the Wuhan Market have played as a possible source of 2019-nCoV? This question needs to be answered, because the virus is an RNA virus that is very easy to mutate and may be able to form a coalition with other viruses, such as influenza viruses, and easily change shape.

Several studies have found the coronavirus in marine animals. The 2014 Journal of Virology reported that a new strain of the coronavirus has been isolated in the Pacific Ocean bottlenose dolphin (BdCoV). This virus belongs to the Gammacoronavirus group derived from chickens. This virus in dolphins complements the virus previously found in other types of dolphins. According to another source of information, there are efforts to use zebrafish as an animal model of pathogenic microorganisms.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

Medical workers use handheld scanners to take the temperatures of overseas passengers on Wednesday (22/1/2020) at Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten. The government has implemented the procedure for all international arrivals to prevent the further spread of the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which has been found to transmit from person to person.

Pathobiome theory

Recently, some have suggested the disease may be caused by several pathogens. So, if a disease or epidemic arises, the pathological condition will be the main benchmark, then researchers will track simultaneously the type and nature of the pathogen involved.

With regard to the 2019-nCoV outbreak in Wuhan, what is important is not only the coronavirus itself, but the level of severe, acute pneumonia, so the conditions of patients need to be studied simultaneously. If 2019-nCoV enters Indonesia, it will not necessarily have the same effect as in the place of origin.

David Bass and his colleagues have summarized the thinking behind the pathobiome paradigm in an article in Trends in Ecology & Evolution 2019 titled The Pathobiome in Animal and Plant Disease.

In principle, microbes (eukaryotes, prokaryotes and viruses) will form a community that together enters a large host with one of the dominant microbes, which can cause one or several diseases. Like an attack on an enemy, the concept of pathobiome is that pathogens are not alone. They will share their duties as in a military attack.

Taxonomically, the pathobiome must be assessed from aspects of host species, ecology and tissue type as the location for pathogen development and time. All of this is based on the expression of genes, host and pathobiome, metabolic interactions and ecological processes. The formation of a pathobiome does not have to originate from a microbe of the same type but can also originate from the contribution of environmental microbes. They can mutually provide genetic material, both in the form of coalitions and mutation triggers.

The Wuhan outbreak, despite being identified as a coronavirus, is still a mystery. Structurally, 2019-nCoV is closer to the bats, but questions of epidemiology have not yet been answered. The same goes for the malignancy of the virus.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

Passengers walk past a row of monitors showing the results of a thermal scan on Wednesday (22/1/2020) at Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten. The government is scanning all international arrivals to prevent the further spread of the new coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, which has been found to transmit from person to person.

This pathobiome theory will revise all the concepts that exist so far. Koch\'s postulate also needs to be reviewed. Vaccine formulation derived from the concept of "One pathogen one disease" becomes "one pathobiome one disease".

The profile of a host in Indonesia, human or animal, can be assessed through the pathobiome model for people in Indonesia, including ethnic groups.

With the pathobiome concept, there is no need for people to worry too much about the 2019-nCoV outbreak. Environmental and individual conditions are not necessarily the same as the conditions at the place of origin. However, do not let your guard down.

There is no need for people to worry too much about the 2019-nCoV outbreak.

The government has begun preparing, starting with circulars addressed to regional administrations and the public, as well as screening at points of entry. Referral hospitals have been prepared, as has the chain of laboratory testing.

The 2019-nCoV, besides causing severe and acute pneumonia, can also cause severe diarrhea, even to the point of bleeding (enteritis). The pathobiome concept can be considered for carrying out vaccinations. Curcumin is very effective to prevent the effects of cytokine storms. Sordillo and friends have published the results of curcumin research to prevent cytokine storms in the journal In Vivo in 2015.

The Indonesian people are very familiar with ingredients that contain curcumin: ginger, turmeric, kencur, ginger and others. Taking such ingredients helps prevent infection of the virus.

CA Nidom, Professor of Molecular Biology; Chairman of the Trustees/Researcher Professor at Nidom Foundation.