Coronavirus 2019-nCoV: is the genie already out of the bottle?

• Author(s): Hanscheid, Thomas ; Valadas, Emília ; Grobusch, Martin P.
• Date: 2020
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10451/55730
• Origin: Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English
• Contributor(s): Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto da ULisboa

Description

Once again, a virus has jumped the species barrier. Coronavirus 2019-nCoV emerged apparently in a wet market in China, and after a few weeks the number of cases already exceeds those of SARS in 2002/03 (Fig. 1) in terms of both morbidity and mortality. Excellent publications have addressed many aspects of a possible novel endemic/pandemic zoonosis, often with a focus on MERS-CoV (2–4), includingprevention, drug and vaccine-development for coronaviruses, or the importance of “a ‘One Health’ approach to control … …zoonotic pathogens with epidemic potential”. The hugely increased appetite for meat-products worldwide, but also in China, is likely to increase livestock production and sale, as well as scavenging of remaining wildlife resources, primarily the latter with consequent increases in the risk of exposure to novel infectious agents.