Concern In China As Mystery Virus Spreads
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Bird flu, swine flu, Ebola, SARS, MERS, and now Coronavirus.

It has flooded the news cycle. Word of quarantines, it came from China, death tolls, now it's in the US.

Even here in Michigan, the first three possible cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus came back negative. A specimen from a fourth possible case, from Washtenaw County, was sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today for testing.

But WHAT IS IT? What is the Coronavirus? And how scared of it should we be? Is it preventable and what's the treatment?

  • 2019 Novel Coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, is a new respiratory virus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Learn about 2019 Novel Coronavirus. (CDC)
  • Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people and others that circulate among animals, including camels, cats and bats. Early on, many of the patients in the outbreak in Wuhan, China reportedly had some link to a large seafood and animal market, suggesting the virus likely emerged from an animal source. (CDC)
  • This virus probably originally emerged from an animal source but now seems to be spreading from person-to-person.
  • There is currently no vaccine to prevent 2019-nCoV infection. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to this virus. 
  • There is no specific antiviral treatment recommended for 2019-nCoV infection. (CDC)

Sometimes, the CDC explanations can be a bit cumbersome. So to clearly explain everything, please watch the video at the top of this blog. It's part one of a two part series. It tackles the what and where 2019-nCoV came from. The video below is part 2 and it explains symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and vaccine status.

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