Chinese coronavirus may have been lurking in animals for DECADES before adapting to infect humans, leading expert says amid killer outbreak
- Sir Jeremy Farrar said the virus isn't new but has likely adapted to infect humans
- Deadly SARS, HIV and Ebola viruses also emerged from an animal source
- A total of 325 people have caught the new virus across Asia, mostly in China
- Authorities have pointed the blame on 'wet markets' which sell animals
- People who touch infected animal bodily fluids, such as saliva, may be at risk
The new Chinese coronavirus which has killed six people may have been lurking in animals for decades, a leading expert has said.
Sir Jeremy Farrar, a renowned specialist in infectious disease epidemics, said the virus isn't new but has likely adapted to infect humans.
Officials say the never-before-seen infection emerged from an animal source, much like the deadly SARS, HIV and Ebola viruses.
Authorities have pointed the blame on food markets in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak that scientists are scrambling to contain.
Rodents and bats among other animals are slaughtered and sold in traditional 'wet markets', which tourists flock to see the 'real' side of the country.
Viruses – including ones carried by animals – are constantly changing and may over time become strong enough to infect humans.
People who touch infected animal bodily fluids, such as saliva, are at risk of such viruses. However, it is not exactly clear how the new coronavirus started or is transmitted yet.
The new Chinese coronavirus may have been lurking in animals for decades, Sir Jeremy Farrar, a renowned specialist in infectious disease epidemics, has said. Pictured, live chickens for sale in Hong Kong in 2013
Authorities have pointed the blame on food markets in Wuhan. Pictured, a woman wears a mask while walking past the closed Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market
Rodents and bats among other animals are slaughtered and sold in traditional 'wet markets'. Pictured, pork at a wet market in Hong Kong, 2018
Sir Jeremy said animal markets are a 'real source of infection'. Pictured, a market in Hong Kong
A total of 325 people have caught the virus across Asia - a six-fold increase in a few days
Sir Jeremy, director of the UK-based global health charity Wellcome, told MailOnline: 'This is absolutely not a brand new virus.
'This will have been circulating in animals in China and maybe other parts of Asia, probably for years... if not decades.'
He added that it probably hadn't had an effect on humans until now, or caused such mild infections that 'no-one was bothered about' it.
Sir Jeremy said 'something changed', claiming the virus may have adapted to animals or mutated to become infectious to humans
But Sir Jeremy said 'something changed', claiming the virus may have adapted to animals or mutated to become infectious to humans.
Officials in China confirmed yesterday that the virus, which has still not been named but is nicknamed nCoV, can spread between humans.
Cases of the pneumonia-causing virus have been spotted across China, South Korea, Thailand, Japan and Taiwan.
A total of 325 people have caught the virus across Asia - a six-fold increase in a few days. Those infected include 20 healthcare workers.
Suspected cases have sprung up in Australia, North Korea and Philippines in recent days.
A bout of mysterious pneumonia cases first left medics baffled at the end of December in Wuhan, a Chinese city with a population of 11million.
Rodents and bats among other animals are slaughtered and sold in traditional 'wet markets', including the one which is now closed for investigation (pictured)
Mr Farrar said: 'It’s a seafood market but it also had animals being sold, from domestic chickens and ducks to all sorts of other animals'
Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market was shut for tests since January 1. Sir Jeremy said animal markets like this are a 'real source of infection'
Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market was shut for tests, with the majority of infected patients having worked or visited there.
It has been shut since January 1. Sir Jeremy said animal markets are a 'real source of infection'.
He added: 'It’s a seafood market but it also had animals being sold, from domestic chickens and ducks to all sorts of other animals.
'The mixing of animals in an animal market has been a very common way that these infections have come about.
'Sometimes these viruses can adapt to humans, replicate and cause human infections.'
Pointing at HIV and Ebola, Sir Jeremy said: 'Many, many infections in humans that we know of today actually originated in animals.'
SARS, the deadly virus which started in southern China and killed more than 700 people in the early 2000s, came out of a similar market.
And avian flu, another zootonic disease which can infect humans, can be spread from live birds sold at markets or poultry farms.
Wet markets often sell live animals, many of which are illegal or exotic. The vast number of species allows a virus to adapt.
Mr Farrar said: 'Animals mixing allows the virus to be in lots of different hosts, which allows it to adapt to those animals.
'The virus can them come across to humans [who buy and sell at the market].'
Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia, said the coronavirus 'almost certainly' came from animals.
He said people in China are in closer contact with wild animals than those in Western societies because their diet is so varied.
'With China particularly, there is a closer link to animals and what sort of animals people consume,' Professor Hunter said.
'When people go to the market to buy chicken for the week, it's often alive when you buy it.
Viruses – including ones carried by animals – are constantly changing and may over time become strong enough to infect humans. Pictured, a woman wears a mask while passing the closed market in Wuhan where the outbreak started
SARS, the deadly virus which started in southern China and killed more than 700 people in the early 2000s, came out of a similar market to Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market (pictured)
The new Chinese coronavirus which has killed six people may have been lurking in animals for decades, leading expert Sir Jeremy Farrar believes. Pictured, the closed seafood market in Wuhan, China, which is being investigated as the source of the virus
'People butcher the animal themselves at home or in the street.'
Infected animals may shed the virus in their saliva, mucous and faeces, which humans may come into contact with.
They may inhale droplets of the virus from the air, or physically touch an infected animal.
Scientists are still trying to work out how the new Chinese virus attacks its host and how deadly it is.
China’s National Health Commission revealed the unnamed infection is spread from the lungs and may travel in saliva – such as through coughs.
Professor Zhong Nanshan, leader of the National Health Commission's expert team, revealed the virus is likely to be spread by saliva in a press conference today.
He told the meeting: 'As of now, it is affirmative that the new strain of coronavirus can be passed between humans.
'The virus is spread through respiratory system and distance of impact is not long, but it is possible that the virus was passed after being stuck to saliva.'
Professor Zhong said officials must 'quarantine the patients and stop them from contacting others'.
It follows the confirmation that the never-before-seen SARS-like coronavirus had spread between humans.
Taiwan today confirmed its first case of the lethal bug, the fourth territory to report a case of the virus outside of China, following Thailand, South Korea and Japan.
People wearing face masks at a metro station in Taipei, Taiwan. Taiwan recorded its first case of the coronavirus this morning
China reported on January 20 the mysterious virus had spread across the country from Wuhan. Pictured, medical staff at Jinyintan hospital, Wuhan
Wuhan residents have made made more than four million trips by train, road and air since January 10 during the annual Lunar New Year travel rush. Above, a screen grab from CCTV's news programme shows flocks of passengers leaving Wuhan Train Station on Monday
It can also be revealed that:
- North Korea has temporarily banned all tourists from entering the country over fears the Chinese coronavirus will spread
- South Korean budget airline T’way Air has postponed the launch of its cheap flights to Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak
- Experts from the country's National Health Commission have urged Wuhan's 11 million residents not to leave the city
- The World Health Organisation will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss the outbreak
- Public health officials in the UK have instructed NHS hospitals on how to deal with cases amid fears the virus will spread
- The US National Institutes of Health is working on a vaccine against the virus – but it will be months before it can be tested on humans
- A leading virologist admitted he was scared the virus will spread over the Lunar New Year holidays, with millions of Chinese residents set to travel
- Another renowned scientists described the coronavirus as being 'one of the newest and biggest global health threats'
- Countries such as Russia, Kazakhstan and Malaysia have upped their screening methods to detect travellers with a fever in airports
- Shocking footage captured medics wearing hazmat suits screening Air China passengers for the virus before letting them leave
- Residents in various Chinese cities are queuing to buy face masks as vendors sell the medical products for 10 times more than normal
Six people have died from the virus - three of which were announced by health officials today.
The deaths of an 89-year-old man who lived in Wuhan, a 66-year-old man, known only as Li, and a 48-year-old woman, known only as Yin, were reported by state media.
Amid the rapidly growing number of cases, millions of people in China are preparing to travel abroad for Lunar New Year.
Professor John Oxford, a virologist at Queen Mary College, admitted he was 'quaking in my shoes' over the potential spread of the virus that could happen over the Chinese New Year.
He told LBC: 'None of us have faced a new virus faced with so many people in a community travelling around.
'That's what's going to happen in China at the end of the week. Once they are close together in taxis or small rooms, then there may be a problem.'
And Professor Oxford added: 'The only way to stop it is physical cleaning and social distance - keeping away from people.'
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