Tracking the next pandemic: Avian Flu Talk |
bat virus ancestor to COVID-19 |
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Tabitha111
Adviser Group Joined: January 11 2020 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 11640 |
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Posted: July 07 2020 at 9:29am |
(I find this article fascinating) Date: Sun 5 Jul 2020 8:15 AM EDT, Source: Daily Mail [abridged, edited] A virus 96% identical to the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 was found in an abandoned mine in China 7 years ago, according to an investigation. The bat-infested copper mine in Mojiang, western China, was home to a coronavirus that left six adult men sick with pneumonia and 3 of them died. Scientists took samples from the bats' feces, found on the cave floor, and stored them in a laboratory 1000 mi away in Wuhan for years while studying them. That virus, named RaBtCoV/4991 at the time, now appears to be the closest relative to SARS-Cov-2, which is causing Covid-19, a Sunday Times investigation has found. The virus has reportedly been featured in only one widely-available scientific paper that didn't mention the fact it had caused fatal pneumonia in humans. The discovery that something very similar to Covid-19 was circulating in bats in Mojiang - half of bats tested in the mine were carrying at least one type of coronavirus - has raised doubts about the true source of SARS-CoV-2. The official story has been that the Covid-19 virus jumped from an animal - thought to be a pangolin - to humans at Hunan Seafood Market in Wuhan city. From there it spread throughout the population in the densely-populated city, which is a transport hub, and then onto trains and planes and around the world within weeks. But it could have been spreading elsewhere first, and even Chinese authorities have since admitted that the market was a 'victim' of the epidemic rather than its source. Dr Peter Daszak, a British animal disease expert, told The Sunday Times: 'It didn't emerge in the market, it emerged somewhere else.' He suggested it was already spreading somewhere around the mine in rural Mojiang and then broke out in Wuhan, which has a population of 11 million people. 'Fair assumption is that it spilt into animals in southern China and was then shipped in, via infected people, or animals associated with trade, to Wuhan.' The RaBtCoV/4991 virus appears to have caused an illness which sounds extremely similar to Covid-19, and has a genetic code 96.2% matching with it. The 6 men who fell ill with the virus in 2012 did so after being assigned to the mine to clear out the bat feces - it is not clear exactly how it infected them. But the men, who ranged in age from 30 to 63, all required intensive care treatment in hospital. All had high fevers, body aches and coughs, and 5 of them were struggling to breathe. All are symptoms that match those of Covid-19, and they tested negative for all the tropical diseases the doctors could think of, but 2 of them later tested positive in blood samples for having been infected with SARS or a SARS-like coronavirus. The theory is the latest in a long line suggesting the possible origin of the Covid-19 virus, many of which lead back to wild bats in China. [Byline: Sam Blanchard] |
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CRS, DrPH
Expert Level Adviser Joined: January 20 2014 Location: Arizona Status: Offline Points: 26660 |
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Thanks, T, this is a great article!! Personal disclosure - I've been studying "emerging viruses" since 1979, when I first learned about viral hemmoraghic fevers like Marburg (VERY lethal), Lassa Fever and Ebola. It used to be a very obscure branch of epidemiology, I'm glad to see so many good articles about virology & ecology coming out! Our CNN network had a fascinating show about bats and viruses, hosted by Anderson Cooper, it is well worth your time to watch! |
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CRS, DrPH
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Tabitha111
Adviser Group Joined: January 11 2020 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 11640 |
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Thanks! I have always found emergent diseases fascinating. I read every book I could get my hands on from our library...even the footnotes of "The Coming Plague" by Laurie Garrett, which is a book in itself! Will check out the "bat show"! |
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'A man who does not think and plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door.'
--Confucius |
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BeachMama
V.I.P. Member Joined: January 25 2020 Location: Southwest US Status: Offline Points: 3080 |
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Oh my gosh, I love “The Coming Plague,” and have never met another person who has actually read the book! It’s an incredible work. Bats are such efficient little carriers of pathogens, and they seem to transmit said pathogens to humans with surprising efficiency. I believe that Marburg’s reservoir turned out to be bats as well, wasn’t it, CRS? This was a great article. Thanks so much for posting it! |
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carbon20
Moderator Joined: April 08 2006 Location: West Australia Status: Offline Points: 65816 |
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Did you ever read this,its what got me really interested, Though I have been interested , when I was in high school, and in biology learn that the flu virus changed I was hooked...... Should have made it my career..... Book by Richard Preston Follow |
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Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.🖖
Marcus Aurelius |
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CRS, DrPH
Expert Level Adviser Joined: January 20 2014 Location: Arizona Status: Offline Points: 26660 |
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Indeed, Marburg is another damned bat virus! It was transmitted to humans from green monkeys, and wild monkeys are a critical bridge species to bring exotic viruses into humans: https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/marburg/index.html The reservoir host of Marburg virus is the African fruit bat, Rousettus aegyptiacus. Fruit bats infected with Marburg virus do not to show obvious signs of illness. Primates (including humans) can become infected with Marburg virus, and may develop serious disease with high mortality. |
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CRS, DrPH
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CRS, DrPH
Expert Level Adviser Joined: January 20 2014 Location: Arizona Status: Offline Points: 26660 |
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If you are interested in some high-level epidemiological reading, I strongly suggest the book written by my friend & colleague, Dr. Mark Dworkin of Univ of IL School of Public Health, called "Outbreak Investigations." I think you would all enjoy it a great deal, it is very readable and one of my favorite texts in epidemiology! https://www.amazon.com/Outbreak-Investigations-Around-World-Epidemiology/dp/076375143X |
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CRS, DrPH
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Tabitha111
Adviser Group Joined: January 11 2020 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 11640 |
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CSR- thanks for the book recommendation! |
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'A man who does not think and plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door.'
--Confucius |
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ViQueen24
Adviser Group Joined: May 14 2013 Location: Verona, PA Status: Offline Points: 12270 |
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The Coming Plague was excellent! Also loved Flu by Gina Kolata, Plagues And Peoples was good, and The Great Influenza was pretty good. Have not gotten around to reading Demon In The Freezer or The Hot Zone Yet. |
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BeachMama
V.I.P. Member Joined: January 25 2020 Location: Southwest US Status: Offline Points: 3080 |
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MUST BUY NEW DISEASE BOOKS... My husband’s going to wonder where all these Amazon deliveries are coming from! Another incredible book about smallpox, this one in a more historical context: The Speckled Monster. It’s an incredible read! Oooooh, the Hot Zone! Yes!! I read that shortly after “The Coming Plague” and it cemented my fascination with hemorrhagic fevers. Seriously, the sheet tearing noise!?! Eww! Gets me every time! Y’all, I HAVE FOUND MY TRIBE!!! |
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ViQueen24
Adviser Group Joined: May 14 2013 Location: Verona, PA Status: Offline Points: 12270 |
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Beach Mama and all yinz that like these kind of books, here's an ebook that is on sale on Amazon for $1.99: |
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carbon20
Moderator Joined: April 08 2006 Location: West Australia Status: Offline Points: 65816 |
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Wonders why Theses books are not compulsory in schools..... maybe we wouldnt be in this position if they were..... |
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Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.🖖
Marcus Aurelius |
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