All human viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, arose from spillovers from other animals. Results of a recent study of bat samples collected in a small region of Yunnan Province, China revealed additional close relatives of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV. After the identification of SARS-CoV-2 in early 2020, wildlife sampling and retrospective genome sequencing revealed highly related viruses in …
The emergence and spread throughout Europe of a SARS-CoV-2 variant, 20E (EU1) in the summer of 2020 illustrates how a virus may become dominant not by increased transmissibility but through travel and lack of effective containment and screening. The SARS-CoV-2 variant 20E (EU1) emerged in Spain in the summer of 2020 and spread to multiple …
Holiday travel explains spread of a SARS-CoV-2 variant Read More »
Recently isolated coronaviruses from humans in Haiti and Malaysia appear to have originated in pigs and dogs.
When the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in the UK in December 2020 it was accompanied by unsubstantiated claims of increased transmissibility and virulence. The results of a hospital-based study in London reveals no association of the variant with severe disease in this cohort. In a note published by NERVTAG on 21 January …
Niclosamide (pictured) is a drug that has been approved in humans to treat infections with a variety of tapeworms. It might be useful for preventing SARS-CoV-2 replication and COVID-19 pathogenesis by inhibiting virus-catalyzed membrane fusion. Examination of the lungs of 41 patients who died of COVID-19 revealed, in addition to expected lung injury, the presence …
It is well past the time to stop blaming a laboratory in China for the release of SARS-CoV-2. Such fallacies reflect an ignorance of scientific facts, including the recent finding of closely related coronaviruses in bats in Thailand. The bat CoV RatG13, sampled in 2013 in Yunnan province, shares 96% whole genome identity with SARS-CoV-2, …
SARS-like bat coronaviruses are not only in China Read More »
