Q: What do we know about this new virus?
A: We know that it is a coronavirus – its viral particles have the typical crown shape. We know that it is associated with serious respiratory and kidney disease in two people, one of whom has died.
And we know that its genetic sequence is similar to some other coronaviruses that are found in bats.
Q: Isn’t it like SARS?
A: Not really. Genetically, it is different. The disease it causes is different – SARS didn’t have the kidney failure that has been seen in both victims.
And – most important – so far there is no sign that it can be transmitted from person to person. And SARS, of course, was highly contagious.
Q: Should we be worried that the new virus could become contagious?
A: That is, of course, a major concern. Experts are now trying to pin down how the two affected men were infected. Those events occurred several months apart and so far the only reported link is that one man was a resident of Saudi Arabia and the other had visited there. There is also the hint given by the genetic sequence – perhaps both had contacts with bats.
Q: How would we know that the virus had started to spread more widely?
A: We would see transmission among the close contacts of people who were infected – family members and healthcare workers primarily. That’s what happened with SARS. On the other hand, with SARS, there was a relatively long period in which mild disease was circulating and no one really noticed it. So far, we have not seen reports of milder forms of this disease, which may mean the two cases are isolated instances of transmission of a vary virulent virus from animals without any human-to-human spread. That has happened many times with the avian flu.
Q: The virus has been linked with Saudi Arabia. Is there any danger associated with the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which starts soon?
A: At the moment, the World Health Organization has not made any recommendations about trade or travel to Saudi Arabia as a result of the coronavirus issue. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is saying that the virus doesn’t pose a threat to visitors making the Hajj pilgrimage.
Michael Smith, North American Correspondent for MedPage Today, is a three-time winner of the Science and Society Journalism Award of the Canadian Science Writers’ Association.