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Every so often, our vague awareness about our vulnerability as a species is heightened by a specific threat. This year, an outbreak of a pneumonia-causing virus is creating worldwide alarm. The World Health Organisation was alerted to several cases of the coronavirus first identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China on December 31 2019. The coronavirus is a family of viruses that include the common cold, and viruses such as the previously widespread severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). It has severely affected New Year celebrations in China and several cities are in lockdown with the imposition of unprecedented quarantine measures. The death toll in China has hit over 81 and the virus has been detected in several countries around the world. India has screened over 30,000 people for the virus. The Nagaland state Health and Family Welfare department has issued an advisory about the coronavirus and has alerted officials to ‘ensure adequate readiness.’
It is for the third time in as many decades, a zoonotic coronavirus has crossed species to infect human populations. This outbreak reveals a global failure to take action to minimise the risk of zoonotic viruses jumping species from animals to humans. Eating, transporting and trading of wildlife are associated with a heightened risk of the viruses transferring to humans. Ebola is thought to have originated from wild bats that were hunted and killed for food. In this case, scientists believe it to have originated from bats or snakes in a live food market. Bush meat is considered a delicacy in many parts of the developing world, including Nagaland. What we fail to recognise is that markets where wild animals, dead and alive, are in close proximity and are freshly slaughtered, creating ideal conditions for new and dangerous viruses to emerge. More robust health and safety laws have to be put in place and enforced.
Fortunately, so far the corona virus has not been found to be as transmissible as SARS or have as high a death rate as MERS. Health experts believe China and Southeast Asia are better equipped to battle the corona virus following previous epidemics. Sounding alarm bells unnecessarily has dangers too as people may not pay heed the next time or may choose to overreact to the virus. It is essential that government authorities in China and affected countries are open about the outbreak while tackling the virus assiduously. Outbreaks create worry but also provide us an opportunity to take precaution following threats and force us to rethink simple disease-control habits such as washing hands, vaccines and the importance of communicating knowledge concerning diseases. Public health measures, including quarantining, were crucial in controlling previous respiratory viruses. Establishing similar measures will be critical in reducing the transmission of the coronavirus.