New Pandemic Era, More Questions Than Answers

April 26, 2020,

Something that we are experiencing, but have never gone through before, can raise our anxiety levels because in the early stages of our experience, there are more questions than answers.

One of the reasons that we remember our first love so well is because we’ve never experienced those incredible sensations before and now we are sharing it with someone that we love.

The current coronavirus pandemic is something that we’ve never gone through before and as contagious as the virus is, it has raised myriads of questions.

A few answers are coming in.

Slowly.

The United States Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has some answers.

What is a coronavirus exactly?

A novel coronavirus is a new coronavirus that has not been previously identified. The virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is not the same as the coronaviruses that commonly circulate among humans and cause mild illness, like the common cold.

On February 11, 2020 the World Health Organization announced an official name for the disease that is causing the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, first identified in Wuhan China. The new name of this disease is coronavirus disease 2019, abbreviated as COVID-19. In COVID-19, ‘CO’ stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease.

Formerly, this disease was referred to as “2019 novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV”.

There are many types of human coronaviruses including some that commonly cause mild upper-respiratory tract illnesses. COVID-19 is a new disease, caused be a novel (or new) coronavirus that has not previously been seen in humans.

Very helpful to know.

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Do we truly know what the source of this virus is so that perhaps we might take steps to prevent it from forming, let alone spreading, in the future?

COVID-19 is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in people and may different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats.

Rarely, animal coronaviruses can infect people and then spread between people.

This occurred with MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, and now with the virus that causes COVID-19. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is a betacoronavirus, like MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV. All three of these viruses have their origins in bats.

Oh those bats. It appears they have a frightening reputation for a reason.

At healthcareinamerica.us they educate, “Other than being the only mammal that can fly, bats are the perfect hosts for a lot of disease-causing viruses. Bats have been known to carry rabies, Hendra and Marburg viruses, and research has also suggested that bats may be the original hosts of Ebola and Nipah.

When it comes to carrying viruses that can be transferred to other species including humans (so-called “zoonotic” viruses), bats are in a league of their own. These flying mammals host over 60 zoonotic viruses.”

Yuck. Are bats good for anything?

Yes. Bats do eat lots of insects.

That’s not enough.

Farmers like bats because they can use fewer pesticides on their crops, which save the farmers lots of money. In the tropics, fruit and nectar eating bats are important for dispersing seeds and pollinating flowers.

We sigh, because those activities don’t seem like substantial benefits.

Part of the challenge for the human population is that we keep spreading and increasing thus building closer and closer to bat communities.

The human population has started to creep into areas where bats naturally live, especially in the tropics, which has led to an increased risk of contact with these animals.

In Malaysia, for example, commercial pig farms were installed in bat-inhabited forests which consequently led to the first human outbreak of Nipah, via pigs.

As people continue to move into jungles on the planet, they will see more and more outbreaks of zoonotic viruses.

Bats also carry more human pathogens than other animals.

We didn’t know that. How so?

Because bats are like us and prefer to live close to one another which provides plenty of opportunities for pathogens to spread between the bats, then to the humans.

Where do we sit close to one another on a regular basis? At restaurants.

Can the coronavirus spread through food and delivery services?

The CDC maintains, “Coronaviruses are generally thought to be spread from person to person through respiratory droplets. Currently, there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food. Before preparing or eating food it is important to always wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds for general food safety. Throughout the day use a tissue to cover your coughing or sneezing, and wash your hands after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing, or going to the bathroom.

It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object, like a packaging container, that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.

In general, because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from food products or packaging.”

Must admit, that is not too reassuring.

We know of many in our circle that spray down every package of food that they purchase at the super markets before opening them. There used to be a tendency to bite open a package of snack foods with our teeth.

Not anymore.

Every time we touch anything that many human hands have possibly touched, it gets washed down or we thoroughly wash our hands, especially after touching money.

This writing is as of the end of April, 2020.

Summer is coming, which raises another question. Will warmer weather shut down the virus?

The CDC answers, “It is not yet known whether weather and temperature affect the spread of COVID-19. Some other viruses, like those that cause the common cold and flu, spread more during cold weather months but that does not mean it is impossible to become sick with these viruses during other months. There is much more to learn about the transmissibility, severity, and other features associated with COVID-19 and investigations are ongoing.

Generally coronaviruses survive for shorter periods at higher temperatures and higher humidity than in cooler or dryer environments. However, we don’t have direct data for this virus, nor do we have direct data for a temperature-based cutoff for inactivation at this point. The necessary temperature would also be based on the materials of the surface, the environment, etc. Regardless of temperature please follow CDC’s guidance for cleaning and disinfection.”

Well, we truly are in the early stages of this virus outbreak.

Yes, something new that we are experiencing, but have never gone through before, can raise our anxiety levels because in the early stages of our experience, there are more questions than answers.

Time and further investigation will provide us with more answers.