Credit Laidback Al on FluTrackers
# 7228
Laidback Al is back at it on FluTrackers, making it easier for all of us to sort out and keep track of the now-year-long slow emergence of the novel coronavirus on the Arabian peninsula.
He provides maps, details, and commentary in his latest analysis, and it is well worth downloading and keeping as a reference.
Preliminary Overview of 27 NCoV Cases, May 3, 2013
Laidback Al, Senior Moderator, www.FluTrackers.com
A novel betacoronavirus (NCoV) infecting humans was first identified in late of 2012. Through April 15, 2013, a total of 17 cases have been reported from various countries. Incomplete case patient data on the first 17 NCoV cases can be found at this ECDC link.
In the past three days, another 10 cases have been reported, all from Saudi Arabia (FT Link). This discussion presents an over view of the first 27 cases of NCoV. The publicly available information on these cases is limited and sometimes official sources provide conflicting data. The data and discussions presented here are based on the information available as of May 3, 2013.
Quote:
Coronaviruses are a large, diverse group of viruses that affect many animal species. A few of these viruses cause a wide range of respiratory illness in humans, typically with "common cold" symptoms. Genetic sequence data indicate that this new virus is a beta-coronavirus similar to bat coronaviruses, but not similar to any other coronavirus previously described in humans, including the coronavirus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) . . . (link)
This coronavirus is referred to as betacoronavirus 2c EMC2012, but it is also cited in the research literature as HCoV-EMC/2012, NCoV, HCoV, and HCoV-EMC.
“HCoV-EMC/2012 is the sixth coronavirus known to infect humans and the first human virus within betacoronavirus lineage C” (link). As noted by the CDC article this coronavirus shares similarities with bat coronavirus (link). Sequence analysis of fecal specimens of bats in Ghana and Europe led researchers to conclude that EMC/2012 originated from bats (link).
Al, who provides an abundance of charts, graphs and maps on Flutrackers, frequently produces these in-depth overviews.
Two recent ones well worth revisiting, include:
H7N9: A Demographic and Geographic Overview
H5N1 in 2012: The Year in Review
