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Human-to-Human Transmission of Chinese Coronavirus Confirmed
Two people in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong caught the virus from family members
TUESDAY, Jan. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The leader of a Chinese government team of experts announced Monday that human-to-human transmission of a new coronavirus has been confirmed, the Associated Press reported.
According to the AP, research team leader Zhong Nanshan, a respiratory expert, said that two people in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong caught the virus from family members. Some medical workers also appear to have contracted the virus from patients, the China Daily newspaper said.
Also on Monday, China reported a surge in the number of people infected with the coronavirus, including the first cases to arise in the capital, Beijing. According to the AP, authorities say the total number of cases has now topped 200. A third person has died from the illness in Wuhan. Chinese state media said that five cases have been reported in Beijing and 14 have been reported in Guangdong. In Wuhan, cases now total 198, with 136 new cases being reported.
The infection is thought to have originated in a Wuhan seafood market, which has been closed for an investigation, the AP said. The coronavirus is spreading to neighboring countries, with three cases having arisen in Japan and Thailand. The first case diagnosed in South Korea was also announced on Monday.
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Primary Care
Coronaviruses are incredibly diverse, found in many animal species, and are commonly encountered in clinical practice during the cold and flu season, yet many primary care clinicians are not familiar with these respiratory pathogens. We rarely test for them, and when we do it’s usually when we’re looking for something else. Moreover, we have no specific treatments for these viruses.
The usual suspects have funny names: coronavirus HKU1, NL63, 229E and OC43. In our ongoing surveillance and epidemiological studies in school, clinics and long-term care settings, we find all four of these. There are two other coronaviruses that have been previously shown to infect humans: SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus [SARS-CoV]) which emerged in 2003 and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus [MERS-CoV]) which emerged in 2012. SARS and MERS are associated with high case fatality rates.
Now a novel coronavirus, named 2019-nCoV, has emerged in China. There are hundreds of cases in China, and multiple cases across the globe. The second case in the U.S. was confirmed today in Illinois. We are extremely early in this rapidly expanding outbreak. With this evolving situation comes fear, misinformation, and many unknowns. Accordingly, clinicians need to find reliable and up-to-date sources of credible information. A good place to start is at the CDC resource page [1] for healthcare professionals: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/guidance-hcp.html
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