The spread and mutation of the novel coronavirus

Article Summary

The new thing that I learned through the document is that before the rise of the current outbreak of the virus, there had been two previous outbreaks of different traits of the Coronavirus. The SARS traits of the Coronavirus and the MERS traits occurred in china and the middle east in 2012 and 2013, respectively. With regard to the NCIP trait of the Coronavirus, the coronavirus trait that was discovered in early December 2019 is considered as being more dangerous than the subsequent outbreaks. The rate of spread of the virus is deemed to be double every 7.4 days, a factor that details the seriousness of the virus and the possibility that it has to cause deaths at a faster rate (1)..

among the interesting elements about the Novel Coronavirus include that it is associated with seafood. This fact implies that the virus related to the novel Coronavirus originated from seafood. Through this exciting fact, that the virus mutated, making it be able to affect humans, despite the fact it could be a virus that was initially related to sea animals and organisms (2). it is also interesting to realize that the first manifestation of the virus was viewed to represent pneumonia. According to the health practitioners, the initial cases of the virus were presented as unknown cases of pneumonia etiology. Even with the symptoms of thevirus highlyresembling pneumonia symptoms, the pathogen that caused it could not be identified (2). another interesting fact that the report creates is that most of the infections of the Novel Coronavirus are mainly associated with older adultsabove the age of sixty years, while the number of the children who have been infected by the virus is significantly low (6)

the question raised is the possibility, and the likelihood of the mutation of viruses and pathogens initially related to other organisms to the point that they eventually manage to not only infect humans but also to spread from one person to another.  With the current and the previous traits of coronaviruses being successfully traced to originate from other animals, there is the fact that viruses have a way ofmutating to spread from their initial hosts to the point that they manage to establish and affect new hosts. It, raises the question of the factors thatmake these mutationspossible, and the exact reasons that cause the modification of the viruses.

Reflection

Prior to the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus and reading the article, the thoughts that I had on the subject were significantly different. Despite having previous knowledge that humans could get affected if they ate infected food, the perception that I had was that the contaminated food could simply cause illness to the persons who eat it. I, however, had not thoughtthat that the pathogens from animals could mutate to infect humans, and further spread to infect other people who got into contact with the infected people. I feel that the topic addressed in the article is relevant to both my life and the lives of other people. Through the realization of the possibility of the spread of viruses and other pathogens through mutation to affect humans, there is the fact that increased care could be taken to prevent possible infections.

I highly that the topic is worthwhile. This is as it presents an elaborate discussion on the aspect of causes and spreads of the virus. Through this, it is possible to prevent further spread of the virus. The topic relates to public health as it details the factor of the spread and prevention of the virus. Public health workers are at an advantaged position of being able toeducate the general public on the virus with regards to how it is spread and how the spread of the virus can be tamed. The general public is, therefore, able to get an insight on how to deal with the virus through being able to prevent its spread, a factor that could lead to the virus being extinct. Also, the public health workers, through understanding the ways through which the virus spread, can engage necessary measures such as isolation of the infected persons to prevent further spread of the virus. The unanswered question in the article is on the possible actions that could be used to avoid the spread of the virus. My thoughts on this issue are that the range could be contained through research to determine efficient measures to prevent mutation and spread of the virus, through this, the virus could be stopped before it spread to uninfected persons.