Going Viral

The outbreak of coronavirus infections in the Central Hubei region of China appears to be having a massive local impact with a lockdown having been imposed in the city of Wuhan where many cases have been recorded (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/24/coronavirus-chinese-hospitals-in-chaos-as-lockdown-spreads-to-affect-25m-people). The virus, like many infections, (also including bacteria, especially antibiotic resistant strains) appears to be linked to the production, transport and consumption of food substances (if people live and work in close proximity to animals, it makes facilitating the infective agent's jump between species so much easier). Of course, the problem is not limited to China as rapid global transport is clearly already moving the virus around the world (a fact exacerbated by the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations). UK universities (including my own) are already warning that the Chinese students that they teach might well be delayed by travel restrictions and checks. The race is on to development an effective vaccine as antibiotics don't work on viruses but this might well take 6 months.