What the latest coronavirus tells us about emerging new infections

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorFielding, Burtram C.
dc.date.accessioned2020-10-20T07:52:03Z
dc.date.available2020-10-20T07:52:03Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.description.abstractViruses are quick studies. They’re prolific at adapting to new environments and infecting new hosts. As a result they are able to jump the species divide from animals to humans – as the new coronavirus in China is showing. It’s estimated that 89% of one particular family of viruses, known as RNA viruses, are zoonotic in origin. This means that they started in animals and have since become established among humans. RNA viruses are notorious for being able to mutate in a range of environments. This family of viruses includes everything from Ebola and West Nile Fever to measles and the common cold. The Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (or SARS-CoV) that broke out in Asia in 2003 is also an RNA virus; so too is the significantly more virulent and fatal Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS‐CoV), first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Both are zoonotic. SARS-CoV is believed – although it’s never been confirmed – to have originated in bats. Infected dromedary camels are thought to have been the source for MERS-CoV.en_US
dc.identifier.citationThe Conversation. 2020. What The Latest Coronavirus Tells Us About Emerging New Infections. [online] Available at: <https://theconversation.com/what-the-latest-coronavirus-tells-us-about-emerging-new-infections-130623> [Accessed 20 October 2020].en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://theconversation.com/what-the-latest-coronavirus-tells-us-about-emerging-new-infections-130623
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10566/5284
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherThe Conversation Africaen_US
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_US
dc.subjectCaronavirusen_US
dc.subjectCOVID-19en_US
dc.titleWhat the latest coronavirus tells us about emerging new infectionsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
What the latest coronavirus tells us 2020.pdf
Size:
941.8 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Research Publications - COVID-19