By: Lester Williams Jr, Contributing Writer
2020 has just started and China is already facing an outbreak due to an unknown virus that is spreading within the country. This new and mysterious virus has left scientists puzzled over what it is, how it spreads, and how to control it. However, with theories still being challenged by the science community, it has not been confirmed how serious this new virus is.
The outbreak in China has been identified as a respiratory virus, which is similar to viruses that cause pneumonia, lung cancer, and asthma, targeting organs in the respiratory system, specifically the lungs.
Photo Credit: ScienceMag.org – The virus has already caused panic in Wuhan, Central China.
A respiratory virus can be caused by many factors which, according to https://www.cancer.gov/, includes “breathing in secondhand tobacco smoke, radon, asbestos, or other forms of air pollution.”
When reports of the outbreak first came out on Dec. 30, 2019, https://www.outbreakobservatory.org/, informed the world that “27 cases of the virus had been reported, all of whom had been hospitalized”.
Although the cause of the virus is still being studied, its symptoms so far include trouble breathing and a fever. Also, it has yet to be confirmed that the virus can spread through person to person transmission.
One of the theories on this outbreak that has so far been dismissed is that it is linked to the viral respiratory illness known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which will cause a re-emergence in the virus. The way it spreads is comparable to the viral illness, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
In response to this outbreak, an investigation in Wuhan in central China showed that people who are infected by the virus are also showing symptoms of pneumonia. The lung infection causes air sacks in the lungs to swell up and reduces the efficiency of the respiratory system resulting in breathing issues.
While the outbreak has not caused an epidemic, its greatest effect on the Chinese population is a temporary shutdown of the seafood market due to public health concerns.
Photo Credit: Health.Harvard.edu – Pneumonia is caused by a viral infection that damages multiple organs of the respiratory system.
This decision, according to, https://www.outbreakobservatory.org/,is because many of the victims of the outbreak are employed at seafood markets. This makes some speculators question a link to marine life and the virus, such as that the virus can spread from animals to humans.
China is well known for its seafood market. Https://www.foodexport.org/ recognizes that China is “the world’s largest producer, consumer, importer and exporter of fishery products – handling more than 40% of global production.”
The seafood market brings in billions of dollars to China each year, meaning it has a significant role in Chinese economy. While it is shut down, many businesses will be negatively affected by losing profit, products, and customers.
At the University of Hong King, Yuen Kwok-Yung, a microbiologist, believes that this virus will not cause an epidemic. However, he suggests that the microorganisms are transmitting the virus from animals to humans. This further pushed the Chinese government to temporarily shut down and inspect health issues in the seafood industry.
Within the past few weeks, the virus has already begun to have an impact on China’s seafood industry. This shows it has the potential to cause more harm to the country unless more research is done to stop it from spreading.
