Until the inevitable day when the various “wikis” are dispersed, dumbed down, or reduced to marketing, I was able to gather some technical info about the pandemic. Not everyone will even care, but I do. What I’m learning is about how complex and all-pervading the viruses are and how they are seen by scientists. It appears so far that cats (esp. civet “cats”) can catch covid-19 but dogs cannot. Other corona viruses that can become zoonoses are in horses, cows and camels — and bats and rodents. The rule of thumb is that the more kinds are in a species, the more numerous kinds of viruses are in them.
Betacoronaviruses (β-CoVs or Beta-CoVs) are one of four genera of coronaviruses of the subfamily Orthocoronavirinae in the family Coronaviridae, of the order Nidovirales.They are enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses of zoonotic origin.The coronavirus genera are each composed of varying viral lineages with the betacoronavirus genus containing four such lineages.”
“Nidovirales is an order of viruses with animal and human hosts. The order includes the families Coronaviridae, Arteriviridae, Roniviridae, and Mesoniviridae.. Nidoviruses are enveloped positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses.They are named for the Latin nidus, meaning nest, as all viruses in this order produce a 3' co-terminal nested set of subgenomic mRNA's during infection.”
INDIANA STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
(edited)
10 Things You Should Know about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19
Note: SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus, COVID-19 is the name of the illness.
1. It may be novel, but it’s from the same viral family as SARS, MERS, OC43 and HKU1. [Previous epidemics]
• The virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2), belongs to the betacoronaviruses, one of the four
genera of coronaviruses.
• Knowing a little about this genera helps public health officials understand basic concepts about
COVID-19, such as the approximate range of the virus’s incubation period.
2. Commercially available tests that detect OC43, HKU1, or MERS will not detect the virus that
causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2).
• This is good, in that the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) will not be detected by tests that target seasonal coronaviruses, such as OC43, HKU1, 229E or NL63.
• The following manufacturers have completed in silico [glass] analyses of the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) against their platforms and state that they will not have cross-reactivity to seasonal coronaviruses: Biofire® FilmArray® (Respiratory Panel, Pneumonia Panel), GenMark Dx® (Respiratory Panel), and Luminex® (xTAG® RPP, NxTAG® RPP).
3. Standard BSL-2 facilities and work practices can be used with potential COVID-19 specimens.
• A certified BSC [ Biological Safety Cabinets — equipment, not employees] should be employed when aliquoting specimens, inoculating media, performing
diagnostic testing, extracting nucleic acids, and preparing slides.
• Viral culture of potential COVID-19 specimens is strongly discouraged at this time.
4. Specimens from suspect COVID-19 cases can be shipped Category B.
5. Healthcare workers are being advised to wear gloves, gowns, respiratory protection and eye
protection when working with patients of known or suspected COVID-19 infection. . .
7. Testing is only available at CDC.
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