Mystery Virus
The idea of a new virus is causing alarm at some international airports. The recent discovery of an unknown form of coronavirus has health officials across the globe on high alert. The virus, known as “2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV as listed on the GenBank sequence database), was detected in Wuhan city, Central-Eastern China. There have been 41 confirmed cases among Chinese nationals, one of which was detected at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Thailand. The virus is not a mystery any longer as Chinese scientists have sequenced and shared the genome data of 2019-nCoV.
According to a recent article in the Bangkok Post, health officials are working on containment by stepping up monitoring of travelers from Wuhan City.
“The Public Health Ministry has increased its monitoring at four airports that have daily flights from Wuhan – Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueng, Chiang Mai and Phuket – and any airports that receive charter flights from the city.”
Sophon Iamsirithaworn, the Director of the Thai Disease Control Department, indicated that there are approximately 1,200 arrivals from Wuhan, with a slight increase during the Luna New Year holiday.
With any disease outbreak, one of the biggest concerns is undiagnosed infections that could lead to a pandemic. This is especially true with previously unknown viruses. Althought 2019-nCoV is classified as a coronavirus, typically spread through human-to-human contact, a CDC report referencing Chinese officials indicated that the transmission of this virus may have been related to exposure to an animal and seafood market.
“Chinese health authorities report that to date in this outbreak, most infections with 2019-nCoV have had some exposure to one large seafood and animal market. They report no confirmed person-to-person spread of this virus. Authorities also report that several hundred contacts, including health care workers caring for outbreak patients, are being monitored and no additional illnesses have been detected.”
adding…
“There is much more to learn about the transmissibility, severity, and other features associated with 2019-nCoV, and investigations are ongoing. Based on current information, however, the risk from 2019-nCoV to the American public is deemed to be low at this time. Nevertheless, CDC is taking proactive preparedness precautions.”
While the reported infections of this new virus are relatively low, and located in Mainland China, there is a significant risk of the virus spreading globally. Chinese tourism has been expanding over the past decade. The Bangkok Post article shared a staggering statistic on Chinese tourism numbers:
“The president of the Tourism Council of Thailand told Reuters on Wednesday that about 800,000 visitors from China were expected to visit the country over the Lunar New Year holiday later this month.”
Chinese tourists have been exploding over the past decade, however, there has been a slowdown in growth in recent years. In the United States alone, approximately 3 million Chinese tourists arrived in 2018. Overall, approximately 150 million Chinese tourists took trips abroad in 2018 with continued growth expected.
Health officials worldwide are grateful for the prompt sharing of information about the new virus. However, containing any outbreak is difficult as we live in increasingly globalized society. Undiagnosed infection, substandard sterilization of aircraft, and lack of universal screening at airports are obstacles that can exacerbate the spread of the disease.