Coronavirus may Not be as Deadly as It Seems

The deadly coronarvirus may not be infectious enough to pose a global threat, researchers claim.

Their analysis of 55 cases of Middle East respiratory-syndrome coronavirus, indicated the virus struggled to spread in people.

No Cases of Novel Coronavirus Found in UAE: Health Ministry
The health ministry said following reports about a man in France diagnosed with NCoV after his return from a trip to the UAE that no after his return from a trip to the UAE.

But the virus may be mutating, which means it could become a much greater threat.

It is similar to viruses that cause Sars and the common cold.

So far there have been 77 confirmed cases and 41 deaths.

Patient-to-nurse Infection of Coronavirus: First Proof
The World Health Organization said that two Saudi health workers have contracted the deadly coronavirus from patients, marking the first evidence of transmission in a hospital setting.

Most infections come from an unidentified animal source, but there have been cases in which the virus has spread between people.

The team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris tried to calculate the average number of people each infected person passed the virus on to - what is known as a "basic reproduction value".

Cell Response to Novel Human Coronavirus Opens Possible Paths to Treatments
WHAT:To study the cells' response to infection by a novel human coronavirus (called nCoV), NIH-supported scientists used lab-grown human lung cells.

A high value means the number of cases can increase rapidly and potentially spread around the world, but a number less than one would mean the virus was destined to fade away.

The study indicated each patient would, on average, infect 0.69 others. So three infected patients would pass the virus on to just two people.

Treatment for Coronavirus In Early Lab Tests Shows Promise
Scientists studying an emerging coronavirus have found that a combination of two licensed antiviral drugs, ribavirin and interferon-alpha 2b, can stop the virus from replicating in laboratory-grown cells.

Prof Arnaud Fontanet told the BBC that the virus currently is not able to start an epidemic.

In the early stages of Sars in late 2002 it had a basic reproduction value of 0.8, but eventually the virus mutated and could spread more easily.

The findings are published in the Lancet.

Source-ANI