With over 1,300 people dead and over 50,000 people infected, novel coronavirus has become the talk of news outlets all over the world. 

“In the last week it became a very big topic. The hospital I work at is a very small hospital part of a big system.” Said Sara Harrison, a registered nurse at UTHealth East Texas Carthage, “Our “mother” hospital actually had a potential scare and they quarantined half of their emergency room.”

According to The World Health organization “Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses.” Illnesses including Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, are all part of this larger family, however some strains can present as just a common cold. The current outbreak is a new strain and is called Novel Coronavirus.

Coronaviruses are zoonotic. This means that they can be transferred from animals to humans. There have been documented cases of animals like civets and camels infecting humans with various different strains. Then the virus mutates and humans can pass on the virus to each other.

The first report of the novel coronavirus was on December 30 2019 came from Doctor Li Wenliang, who has since died from the virus himself. Wenliang sent a warning to fellow doctors in the area, but was told by police to stop “making false comments.”

The virus can present differently on a case by case basis. Some people will experience no symptoms or very mild symptoms, while others may become extremely ill and even die. The actual symptoms include a fever, cough, and difficulty breathing.

In the U.S those who have been infected with the virus had either recently visited China or had been in close contact with someone who had visited China. All of those with confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the U.S are in quarantine and being monitored.