#14,642
Overnight the World Health Organization set up a landing page, and a set of technical documents, on the emerging coronavirus which appeared in Wuhan, China in December. While primarily of interest to public health officials, clinicians, and testing laboratories, I've excerpted the overview, and the accompanying links below.
One note, apparently - at least for now - the WHO is sticking to calling this emerging pathogen nCoV (novel Coronavirus) in their guidance documents, which is the same appellation used for MERS-CoV for roughly the first 8 months after its discovery (see WHO: Call It MERS-CoV).The naming of a new virus or disease - which often includes the place of origin or discovery (ie. Ebola, Hendra, Lyme, MERS-CoV) - can be a bit of a minefield, as many feel it can attach an unwarranted stigma to a region or group of people.
The UK has apparently adopted WN-CoV (Wuhan Novel Coronavirus), which helps to differentiate it from other novel coronaviruses. While I have no horse in this race, hopefully a consensus will be announced sooner rather than later on what we should call this virus.
Coronavirus
Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.
Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.
Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.
Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.
Fact sheets
Q&A
Technical documents for novel coronavirus
Travel guidance
Related topics
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV)
