Coronavirus is a term used to classify a large family of viruses that have a wide range of illnesses. All viruses in the family are transmitted between animals and humans- zoonotic. They are enveloped viruses named for the crown-like spikes on their surface and most humans get infected with at least one coronavirus in their lifetime. Once in humans they spread through droplets in the air, direct contact, feces or by object vectors. Young children are most likely to get infected and face symptoms similar to the common cold including runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat and fever.
The virus bringing so much terror to those around the world currently is the novel coronavirus. This strain has not been previously identified by humans. This specific strain was believed to have began in China. Researchers recently analyzed 10 genome sequences from 9 patients who were sick in China and they found that the virus must have very recently made the jump from animals to humans because of their extremely similar genetic sequence. Because of this, we can determine that the virus was caught very quickly after its jump, but it is also spreading at a very rapid pace. There are over 6000 confirmed cases globally, almost all of which are in China.
The first speculation as to where the new virus came from began with snakes. The most recent speculation from experts is that ultimately it was more likely to have came from a bat. Experts are not shocked by this assertion, with other diseases such as Marburg, Micah, and Hendra as well as thoughts that bats are the natural hosts of the Ebola virus, rabies, SARS and MERS. The Chinese CDC has said that data was pointing toward the virus beginning in bats, infecting another unknown wild animal and then moving on to humans.
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