China Silences Critics Over Deadly Virus Outbreak

Beijing has responded faster to the new threat than it did with SARS, but it still silences and punishes those who veer from the official line, with potentially damaging consequences. 

A corona virus is a kind of common virus that causes an infection in your nose, sinuses, or upper throat. Most corona viruses are not dangerous. early January 2020, the World Health Organization identified a new type of corona virus: 2019 novel corona virus (2019-nCoV) in China.

 By late January, there were 300 confirmed cases in China and a death count that was still in the single digits, but rising. And despite airport screenings, a traveler had brought the first case to the U.S. At least 106 people have died from a new corona virus in China following an outbreak in the central city of Wuhan, forcing a government lock down in almost 20 cities that in effect has quarantined an estimated 56 million people. More than 4,520 cases have been reported globally, most of them in China and especially in Wuhan and nearby cities in Hubei province.

Experts think the Wuhan corona virus jumped from bats to snakes to people. Bats have been the source of at least 4 pandemics.

Corona viruses are zoophytic diseases, meaning they spread to people from animals. Because wet markets put people and live and dead animals — dogs, chickens, pigs, snakes, civets, and more — in close contact, it can be easy for a virus to make an inter species jump.

"Poorly regulated live-animal markets mixed with illegal wildlife trade offer a unique opportunity for viruses to spill over from wildlife hosts into the human population," the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a statement on Thursday.

corona virus

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), corona viruses are a family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

These viruses were originally transmitted between animals and people. SARS, for instance, was believed to have been transmitted from civet cats to humans while MERS traveled from a type of camel to humans. Several known corona viruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans. The name corona virus comes from the Latin word corona, meaning crown or halo. Under an electron microscope, the image of the virus is reminiscent of a solar corona. A novel corona virus, identified by Chinese authorities on January 7 and named 2019-nCoV, is a new strain that had not been previously identified in humans. Little is known about it, although human-to-human transmission has been confirmed.

symptoms

According to the WHO, signs of infection include fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, it can lead to pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death. The incubation period of the corona virus remains unknown. Some sources say it could be between 10 to 14 days. An emergency declaration for the Wuhan virus case could include recommendations to restrict travel or trade. Such a move would come as concern grows that the virus could spread rapidly during China’s Lunar New Year break, which starts at the end of this week. Hundreds of millions of people are poised to travel for the holidays in the biggest annual migration of humans on the planet.