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New coronavirus can spread between humans, but started in a wildlife market

nationalgeographic.com

141–150 of 350 posts

Re: New coronavirus can spread between humans, but started in a wildlife market

#141
post #21

From what I've read it came from bats. Most probably bats being eaten.[1] Bats have been the source of at least 4 pandemics. It's interesting to note that current coronavirus spreading in China and the SARS outbreak of 2003 have two things in common: Both are from the coronavirus family, and both were passed from animals to humans in a wet market.[2] I tried to put together a page for coronavirus in China here where…

I've heard the bat eating theory, but the virus is airborne and infects the lungs. So it seems that eating a bat probably didn't cause this.

[deleted]

Re: New coronavirus can spread between humans, but started in a wildlife market

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a friend who teaches in China and according to him everyone is extremely worried. People aren't going out, wearing masks when they do, and so forth.

For what it's worth I'm flying back home to the US from the UAE and at the airport as I was waiting to check my bag I saw many (10+) groups of Chinese tourists checking entire boxes of 3M N95 masks. My guess is that they're running out at home and these tourists saw an opportunity to make some money or help people out (or both).

Can an N95 mask prevent viral infection? Those things are typically for particulates and are charged so things like dust attach to the fibers. I’m not sure they’re effective for aerosolized particles

Re: New coronavirus can spread between humans, but started in a wildlife market

#143

President Xi has warned that the virus is spreading. His intervention seems to be unprecedented. Is it worse than what it seems to be? They have quarantined whole cities and are building a hospital at war scale especially for this. Maybe the Chinese know something that the world doesn't know yet.

I have a friend who teaches in China and according to him everyone is extremely worried. People aren't going out, wearing masks when they do, and so forth.

- Wearing masks is normal because of air pollution. A lot of people wear really loose non-N95/n99 masks though, but there's definitely an uptick in people wearing better masks because of the virus.

- An acquantince of mine went to a supermarket today. Everything seems fine (they live not too far from Beijing where there are confirmed cases).

- There are still people entering Wuhan to see family. (https://youtu.be/cmgPVhubmQA?t=208)

I'm not saying people don't care. My family is worried for me because I left Hanoi the same day an infected individual arrived in Hanoi. I have friends that are worried for their families back home. But I still see a lot of friends celebrating the new year, albeit not in any quarantined areas.

There's reports of people leaving the quarantined areas with symptoms. I wish they would team up with Tencent to flag individuals who have been active in the quarantined regions and left such regions since then.

Re: New coronavirus can spread between humans, but started in a wildlife market

#144
Normal HN racism.

Of the 41 people in the initial cohort at the hospital the ~1/3 from the market all did what?

They all kissed the same snake?

Or did one person catch it and then spread it at one of the most packed locations in the area?

And since it's a market it also contains farmers that easily could have brought it from out of the city.

Saying it comes from markets is like saying it comes from airplane meetups.

Their reasons for saying it comes from snakes I assume is genetic, the fact they are all quickly traced to such packed locations proves nothing.

I know snakes are used to feed omnivorous livestock in some countries for instance.

It can also be spread from fecal matter. It doesn't mean everyone eats poo. It means poor people live among animals.

[edit] More on patient zero (Not from the market according to SCMP, no surprise) https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047646/no-l...

Re: New coronavirus can spread between humans, but started in a wildlife market

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most Chinese people have no so much medical common sense, only a warning like this can stop them from trying to return home for the Chinese New Year. The most important factor during public health crises isn't common sense, it's trust. The quarantines are worthless if they cause over 50 million people to go into a panic because they don't trust the central authorities. The predominant commentary I'm seeing coming f…

It's not only thousand cases and a few dozen deaths. It's over a thousand cases over a few days of development from over a dozen. Learn your math, dude, especially on exponential growth. That multiply dangerously fast. Besides the confirmed cases, there would be at least few times more suspected cases, which could easily overload a handful of well-equipped hospitals. Once the the number of those infected go well beyo…

This is what R0 measures. So far the estimates are in the 1.5 - 4 range. For comparison, in an unvaccinated population, measles is in the 12-16 range. It's early stages, though - due to the latency/carrier thing, they're not really sure, and in Wuhan, the R0 number is going to be higher than it would be for worldwide average.

Re: New coronavirus can spread between humans, but started in a wildlife market

#146
post #21

From what I've read it came from bats. Most probably bats being eaten.[1] Bats have been the source of at least 4 pandemics. It's interesting to note that current coronavirus spreading in China and the SARS outbreak of 2003 have two things in common: Both are from the coronavirus family, and both were passed from animals to humans in a wet market.[2] I tried to put together a page for coronavirus in China here where…

It was reported in the BBC today that while SARS originated in bats, the vector for humans were a species of cats that got the disease from the bats.

For coronavirus what we know so far is that it originated in a seafood market, but as to what species was eaten that is speculation at this point.

Re: New coronavirus can spread between humans, but started in a wildlife market

#147
post #21

From what I've read it came from bats. Most probably bats being eaten.[1] Bats have been the source of at least 4 pandemics. It's interesting to note that current coronavirus spreading in China and the SARS outbreak of 2003 have two things in common: Both are from the coronavirus family, and both were passed from animals to humans in a wet market.[2] I tried to put together a page for coronavirus in China here where…

Not snakes? The first reports I read were about snakes.

Re: New coronavirus can spread between humans, but started in a wildlife market

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it's worth I'm flying back home to the US from the UAE and at the airport as I was waiting to check my bag I saw many (10+) groups of Chinese tourists checking entire boxes of 3M N95 masks. My guess is that they're running out at home and these tourists saw an opportunity to make some money or help people out (or both).

Can an N95 mask prevent viral infection? Those things are typically for particulates and are charged so things like dust attach to the fibers. I’m not sure they’re effective for aerosolized particles

I did research this topic many years ago during the bird flu panic, and the short answer is yes, a PROPERLY USED N95 mask prevents infection. The properly used part is quite tricky though, for example you touch the outside of the mask with your fingers when you remove it, and then rub your eyes... There's a reason those guys are in a full suit and not just a mask.

But even if it's not 100% effective, even if it's just 90% it's still a massive win.

Re: New coronavirus can spread between humans, but started in a wildlife market

#149

I don't understand why people eat monkey or bats? if they have all these virus or diseases in them. It's 2020 we have more food in the world than we did years ago no need to eat a bat just grab an apple.

Some people eat crocodiles, horse meat, etc. Eating cows or pigs themselves is pretty weird on itself, especially if you see how they kill and process the animal. The fact that we are used to se things is all that counts.

That being said, viruses were not transmitted by people eating bats. It was a species of cats that got infected by bats. As for cat consumption, well it is very easy to dupe somebody to eat cat meat thinking it is rabbit. That is why in a lot of developing countries when you buy rabbit meat they keep the furry head of the animal attached to the body on the bag so that you can see it is the real thing.

Re: New coronavirus can spread between humans, but started in a wildlife market

#150
post #23

Key quote from the article: > “If we were to shut the wildlife markets, a lot of these outbreaks would be a thing of the past,” says Ian Lipkin, director of Columbia University’s Center for Infection and Immunity, whose lab worked with Chinese officials to develop early diagnostic tests for SARS. > That’s because both SARS and the new outbreak are zoonotic, meaning these diseases started in animals before spreading t…

Maybe (hopefully?) China will shut down these markets after this outbreak. They've been known to take serious measures in the past when necessary. Surely the benefit of these markets cannot outweigh their costs (including on the local wildlife, not just infectious diseases).

I've been told by friends in China that modern cities like Beijing shut down these markets years ago. It's still a holdover from the huge migration from rural to urban environments, and a cultural preference for eating wild meats, more so than a cost of living issue.
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