Jan 27th 2020,
18 tweets,
10 min read
From the @CDCgov update on #coronavirus: 110 persons under investigation in US from 26 states. Only 5 have been confirmed.
Assay protocol for test has been published, and CDC is working to prioritize state health departments for receiving tests. Will release to other domestic/intl labs later.
Sequences from 2 US patients have been uploaded to Genbank.
Sequences from 2 US patients have been uploaded to Genbank.
16 intl locations, including US, have identified cases of #nCoV2019
CDC is working on updating travel guidance. This will be released in the next few days. Currently they recommend not traveling to Hubei province unless necessary, and to practice increased precautions when traveling to other parts of China.
Immediate risk to US population from #coronavirus is LOW. #nCoV2019. CDC will update with public health messaging as the situation involves.
2400 travelers have been screened so far in the US, and travel from Wuhan has been declining (due to quarantine of city). A number of these are being followed for symptoms (this number was not specified on the call).
General interpretation currently is that incubation period is 2-14 days. R0 (reproductive number) around 1.5-3 (based on a few different modeling studies).
Right now, asking clinical lab partners to send #nCoV2019 samples to CDC for testing, to ensure accuracy of results.
Protocol posted is a blueprint that researchers can use to adapt in own lab. CDC is developing kits for distribution (including reagents).
Protocol posted is a blueprint that researchers can use to adapt in own lab. CDC is developing kits for distribution (including reagents).
Where did the virus "actually" come from? We have sequence analysis to compare #nCoV2019 with other #coronaviruses, as well as #epidemiological data that still needs to be analyzed before we will know the source.
Due to poor survivability (hours) of #coronavirus on surfaces, products shipped from China should not carry risk of transmission.
CDC does not have clear evidence of patients with #nCoV2019 being infectious before symptom onset. They are being aggressive with tracking close contacts for evidence of this. So far US has not seen human-human transmission.
Virus is mostly in adults, primarily older adults with underlying conditions. No children infected in US that we know of.
What's happening to the 110 US patients being followed? ID someone who potentially has exposure to Wuhan, and has a fever and respiratory illness OR someone who had contact with confiemed case of #coronavirus AND has fever/resp illness.
The CDC is then informed and they decide whether patient qualifies as a person under investigation and whether they require testing and additional follow up. If yes, samples sent to CDC for testing to confirm (~1-2 weeks turnaround).
Here is the @CDCgov guidelines for following patients of interest with #nCoV2019: cdc.gov/coronavirus/20… #coronavirus
There are potentially patients from Wuhan traveling indirectly from there via other airports who might arrive to the US. So while direct flights from Wuhan have been canceled, there are always indirect itineraries. Airport screening will hopefully catch #coronavirus patients.
End of call. Check out @CDCgov #nCoV2019 situation summary here for updates: cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…
