Chinese Mystery Disease Update No 7: Coronavirus linked to pigs? Hundreds of millions of Chinese pigs died of disease last year: Up to 50,000 people are walking around, many unaware they are sick.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals. Hundreds of millions of pigs died in China last year due to African Swine Flue, has the virus mutated?

BEIJING - Chinese health authorities announced Friday that 830 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) had been reported across 29 provincial-level regions in the country by the end of Thursday. Among them, 34 had been cured and discharged from hospitals, according to the National Health Commission (NHC). A total of 1,072 suspected cases have been reported in 20 provincial-level regions, according to the commission. If we break these figures down using  Prof Neil Ferguson table 830 confirmed cases would mean anything up to 50,000 people are walking around unaware they are sick.

The problem here is the Chinese officials, through no fault of their own, have closed the stable door after the horse has bolted. Before officials quarantined Wuhan, millions of people were coming and going, Wuhan was shut down on Wednesday but here lies the problem, the coronavirus is known to incubate in a person for 5-to-10 days, sometimes even 24 days. The cat is already out of the bag, literally, thousands of people will be affected, and, walking around for days before they even realise they are sick.

Meanwhile, officials at Texas A&M University say a student there may have contracted coronavirus. A press release Thursday afternoon from the university, about 95 miles northwest of Houston, said that the Brazos County Health District had alerted university officials. If confirmed, it would be the second case of the deadly disease in the U.S. The Weather Channel

GENEVA - The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that it was "too early" to declare the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) while warning that the number of cases may rise as many about the virus remain unknown.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals.

It emerged today that the deadly new virus spreading across Asia is far more contagious than previously thought and someone who is infected can spread it with just a simple cough or a sneeze, scientists say. Dr Helena Maier, from The Pirbright Institute, said: 'Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals.  Since August 2018, when China notified the World Organisation for Animal Health that ASF (swine fever) was in the country, the disease has spread with extraordinary speed. Some 40% of Chinese pigs – hundreds of millions of animals – have now been lost

Can the virus be cured? 

The Wuhan coronavirus cannot currently be cured and it is proving difficult to contain. Antibiotics do not work against viruses, so they are out of the question. Antiviral drugs can, but the process of understanding a virus then developing and producing drugs to treat it would take years and huge amounts of money. No vaccine exists for the coronavirus yet and it's not likely one will be developed in time to be of any use in this outbreak, for similar reasons to the above. Daily Mail

Animal Die-Offs 2020

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