Thread by @Nosheen_Z

I was not going to tweet about #COVID19 because I am not a virologist and, this is not really my area of work. But now EVERYONE is tweeting about this virus and even sharing biological data/papers that they don’t understand. So, I think it is important to clarify a few things.

The virus causing COVID19, SARS-CoV-2, is a product of natural evolution and not a product of deliberate genetic engineering (So, it was not made in any lab by an evil scientist). It is confirmed in this excellent article that was published two days back. nature.com/articles/s4159…

Also, this virus is thought to be zoonotic (that spread from non-human animals to humans) in origin, but the animal reservoir is not yet known. Also, it is not only the “haram” animals that can be the “animal source” for epidemics.

There have been several epidemics stemming from animal sources (including the “halal” animals) in recent history. This picture takes a look at some of the most serious outbreaks, their source, when they first emerged, and how deadly they are. aljazeera.com/indepth/intera…

It's no coincidence that some of the worst viral disease outbreaks in recent years originated in bats. Bats are pretty incredible. The bat’s immune system fights viral infections but does not overreact to them, preventing bats from falling ill. sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/…

Stop using the coronavirus as an excuse to be racist! A virus does not have a country. We all get the flu, does it matters where this virus actually originated? And there is no universal consensus regarding where the influenza virus originated.
cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-r…

Infectious diseases are now emerging more rapidly than in the past. Around 60 percent of the new diseases are zoonotic.
nature.com/articles/natur…

Part of that increase is likely a result of how we are treating the environment. “We’re becoming an enormously voracious species of 7.5 billion people, and we’re really destroying the natural habitat of lots and lots and lots of other species,” –Frank Snowden, Professor, Yale.

Proximity gives diseases a better shot at making a cross-species jump! "As we expand into wilderness areas, bringing urbanization and agriculture, we encroach on species like bats that originally had free rein and plenty of space to roam"- grist.org/climate/a-comm…
#ClimateChange

At the moment, there is no vaccine to protect against COVID-19 and no medications approved to treat it. Nonpharmaceutical interventions are the most important response strategy to try to delay the spread of the virus and reduce the impact of the disease.
cdc.gov/nonpharmaceuti…

We are not new to viral infections. Our genomes are the graveyards of ancient viruses. medium.com/hhmi-science-m…

And there is some good news too, according to this new report (March 17th 2020) our immune system can fight back #COVID19! Stay hopeful!
sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/…

#Covid_19