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Have the flu? Try the Keto diet! Study finds the high-fat, low-carb diet triggers the release of immune system cells that trap the virus before it spreads Experts fed mice infected with influenza virus a high-fat, low-carbohydrate Also known as the keto diet, those who stuck to the diet had a high survival rate The team found the diet triggered the release immune system cells in the body These cells produce mucus in in the cell linings of the lung and trapped the virus The ketogenic diet has become a popular way to shed unwanted pounds and a recent study reveals it can also fight off the flu. Researchers fed mice infected with the influenza virus a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, which resulted in a higher survival rate than compared to those on a normal high-carbohydrate diet. The team found the ketogenic diet, or keto for short, triggered the release immune system cells that produce mucus in the cell linings of the lung and trapped the virus before it became worse. Researchers fed mice infected with the influenza virus a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, which resulted in a higher survival rate than compared to those on a normal high-carbohydrate diet Keto includes a menu of meat, fish, poultry and non-starchy vegetables. This diet is said to share many similarities with the Atkins diet, as it involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. Experts have now determined it may be a way to tame the flu, as it was found to activate a subset of T cells in the lungs not previously associated with the immune system's response to influenza, enhancing mucus production from airway cells that can effectively trap the virus, the researchers reported. The study was conducted at Yale University by two trainees and a lead scientist. The team found the ketogenic diet, or keto for short, triggered the release immune system cells that produce mucus in the cell linings of the lung -while the high-carbohydrate diet did not The two trainees are, Ryan Molony who found that immune system activators called inflammasomes can cause harmful immune system responses in their host, and Emily Goldberg who worked in Dixit's lab, which had shown that the ketogenic diet blocked formation of inflammasomes. Co-senior author Akiko Iwasaki, the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute said the findings were 'totally unexpected'. 'This study shows that the way the body burns fat to produce ketone bodies from the food we eat can fuel the immune system to fight flu infection, Dixit explained. WHAT IS THE KETO DIET? The Ketogenic diet defines a low-carb, high-fat way of eating. Following this eating plan forces the body into a metabolic state, known as ketosis, which starves the body of carbohydrates but not calories. Carbs are shunned in the keto diet as they cause the body to produce glucose, which is used as energy over fat. Keto diets therefore lead to weight loss as they make the body burn fat as its primary energy source. On the diet, followers can eat: Meat Leafy greens and most vegetables Full-fat dairy Nuts and seeds Avocadoes and berries Fats, such as coconut oil People cannot eat: Grains, including rice and wheat Sugar, like honey and maple syrup Most fruit White or sweet potatoes During the study, the team showed that mice infected with the flu virus that were fed the keto diet had a higher survival rate than mice on a high-carb normal diet. The researchers were more excited to find the details behind this event. The keto diet actually triggered the release of gamma delta T cells, immune system cells that produce mucus in the cell linings of the lung -while the high-carbohydrate diet did not. When mice were bred without the gene that codes for gamma delta T cells, the ketogenic diet provided no protection against the influenza virus. The Ketogenic diet is a low-carb and high-fat regime Source

TOKYO (BLOOMBERG) - Japan's Health Ministry has begun a special approval process for the antiviral drug remdesivir as a potential treatment for Covid-19, NHK reported. More here

Bustling economy is coming back https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/reopening-of-america-accelerates-as-states-prepare-to-relax-coronavirus-restrictions/2020/04/25/cd2f939c-866a-11ea-a3eb-e9fc93160703_story.html

University of Waterloo developing DNA-based COVID-19 vaccine Researchers at the University of Waterloo are developing a DNA-based vaccine that can be delivered through a nasal spray. The vaccine will work by using engineered bacteriophage, a process that will allow the vaccine to stimulate an immune response in the nasal cavity and target tissues in the lower respiratory tract. “When complete, our DNA-based vaccine will be administered non-invasively as a nasal spray that delivers nanomedicine engineered to immunize and decrease COVID-19 infections,” explains Roderick Slavcev, a professor in the School of Pharmacy who specializes in designing vaccines, pharmaceuticals and gene-therapy treatments. “This research combines the expertise of many and leverages existing technology developed by my team, which we’re reconfiguring for a COVID-19 application.” When completed, the researchers aim to have the DNA-based vaccine enter cells in targeted tissues and cause them to produce a virus-like particle (VLP) that will stimulate an immune response in people. The VLP will look similar to the structure of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes COVID-19), but is harmless. This similarity will activate the body’s natural immune response to protect against viral infections comparable to the VLP, including SARS-CoV-2. It will also bind to receptors that SARS-CoV-2 would bind to, limiting the possible sites for transmission. By causing these changes in the body, the vaccine will build immunity against COVID-19 and decrease the severity of infections in progress – serving as both a therapeutic and a vaccine. Every detail of the vaccine, from ensuring the bacteriophage target specific cells in the respiratory tract to creating a minimal VLP to impersonate SARS-CoV-2, is specifically engineered by the researchers and requires testing. To achieve the design of such a complex project, Slavcev is teaming up with Emmanuel Ho, another professor at the School of Pharmacy, and Marc Aucoin, professor of chemical engineering. Ho’s team is designing the nanomedication that will be delivered by the nasal spray, which is currently being tested. Aucoin’s lab is constructing and purifying the VLP and boosting immunity following the initial administration of the therapeutic vaccine. “It is the collaborative effort of our talented teams that makes this multidisciplinary project so feasible and necessarily efficient as a potential universal vaccine solution against SARS-CoV infections,” says Slavcev. “To practice science with such urgency alongside such talented colleagues and their students is not only immensely educational, it is extremely rewarding.” Slavcev’s team has completed design of the bacteriophage delivery system and is currently modifying this system to apply to COVID-19. Additional design of components and further testing will take place later this year. Components of the research are supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Note: This research has not yet been peer-reviewed and is being released as part of UWaterloo’s commitment to help inform Canada’s COVID-19 response. Source

New drug shows promise against coronavirus, set to enter human trials soon With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, finding a cure to combat the disease has become the foremost priority of researchers across the world. Offering some good news amidst this crisis is a new drug that could turn the tide against SARS-CoV-2. According to a study led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the new drug — EIDD-2801 — was found to reduce lung damage caused by the disease in mice and cultured human cells. What is better is that it was also found to be effective against other coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. The researchers discovered that when the drug is employed as a prophylactic — medication used as a preventive measure — EIDD-2801 could prevent acute lung damage in infected mice. "This new drug not only has high potential for treating COVID-19 patients, but also appears effective for the treatment of other serious coronavirus infections," said Ralph Baric, senior author of the study, in a statement. EIDD-2801 has been approved by the FDA for human trials. What is EIDD-2801? It is an oral form of an antiviral compound known as EIDD-1931, which was developed by the Emory Institute for Drug Development (EIDD). The drug inhibits the replication of a broad spectrum of coronaviruses. When consumed as a pill, it ensures better absorption and transportation to the lungs. Mark Denison, a collaborator in the current study, served as the senior author of another study published in December 2019, which first reported that EIDD-1931 prevented the replication of multiple RNA viruses. Effective and easy administration When EIDD-2801 was used to treat the infection 12 to 24 hours after its onset, the drug was found to reduce the level of weight loss and lung damage in mice. When compared to mice, the period between the contraction of the disease and death is significantly longer in human beings. Therefore, the chances of seeing favourable human results are higher. SARS-CoV-2 Wikimedia Commons One of the primary advantages of EIDD-2801 is its mode of administration. Unlike other potential treatment options that are delivered intravenously, EIDD-2801 can be taken as a pill. Also, it has the prospective advantage for prophylaxis-preventive treatment — in scenarios where people may have been exposed to the coronavirus but do not present symptoms. Potential to tackle new coronaviruses in the future While EIDD-2801 was found to be effective against Sars cov2, it was also found to be effective against related coronaviruses that cause Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The drug has also shown a potent response against viruses that cause diseases such as chikungunya, Ebola, influenza, Eastern equine encephalitis, and Venezuelan equine encephalitis. Cautioning that the emergence of new coronaviruses cannot be ruled out, Timothy Sheahan, first author of the study, said: "With three novel human coronaviruses emerging in the past 20 years, it is likely that we will continue to see more." 3D medical animation coronavirus structure Wikimedia Commons As the drug exhibits a strong antiviral response against several lethal viruses, Sheahan emphasized that the new drug could potentially serve as an important weapon in the fight against future outbreaks. "EIDD-2801 holds promise to not only treat COVID-19 patients today, but to treat new coronaviruses that may emerge in the future," he added. Could complement Remdesivir As of now, Remdesivir, a broad range antiviral, is being touted as a suitable candidate to treat patients suffering from COVID-19. It was developed by Gilead Sciences, a US-based biotechnology company, and was found to exhibit a strong antiviral response against the SARS and MERS coronaviruses. The drug is currently in clinical trials among COVID-19 patients. However, a recent study by Maria Agostini(co-author of the current study) demonstrated that viruses that showed resistance against Remdesivir were inhibited by EIDD-1931 to a higher degree. Thus, a treatment involving the combination of both drugs may show larger efficiency. "Viruses that carry Remdesivir resistance mutations are actually more susceptible to EIDD-1931 and vice versa, suggesting that the two drugs could be combined for greater efficacy and to prevent the emergence of resistance," said George Painter, co-author and director of EIDD. Source

Forum: Mask exemption for outdoor exercise is dangerous I am alarmed by the exemption from wearing face masks granted to those who exercise outdoors, and the rationale given. Scientific studies have shown how easily the coronavirus spreads via infectious droplets, even from asymptomatic carriers. This is why the authorities now mandate that anyone stepping outdoors must wear masks. Exempting those doing strenuous outdoor exercise from wearing a mask creates a chink in society's armour against the contagion. Those exercising breathe faster and harder, increasing the amount of potentially infectious droplets in the air, making them potentially more infectious than those walking slowly. While it would be safe to exercise without a mask if alone, runners and cyclists range far and wide, encountering numerous people. Many do not have the courtesy to make a wide berth around those they pass. On park connectors, there is also no space to keep a 1m distance when passing others. Just one unmasked asymptomatic carrier may spread the virus to many random people in an hour, who will not be traceable by contact tracing. While there may be an increased risk of triggering a heart attack if one exercises with a face mask on, would it not be safer to wear a mask but decrease the intensity of exercise? Or to give up strenuous outdoor exercise altogether in favour of home exercises as is done in other countries? Finally, consider the injustice of exempting one small group of people doing a non-essential activity from using masks, while the majority have to wear them. Or the injustice of allowing a non-essential activity to proceed when other more necessary activities, such as elective surgery for poor vision or painful conditions affecting function, are not allowed. I urge the authorities to reconsider this ill-advised exemption from the use of masks and for outdoor exercise in general. Let us show solidarity in our fight against the coronavirus and not send contradictory messages. If the science shows that wearing face masks will reduce the spread of the virus, then let us not exempt anyone from doing so. If banning non-essential activity is deemed necessary, then do not exempt any such activity. Not exercising outdoors for a month or two will not kill anyone, but continuing to do so without a mask might very well do so. Andrew Yam Kean Tuck (Dr) Source

Vince McMahon Is Advising Trump on How to Restart US Economy WWE's Vince McMahon was named as one of a few sports magnates to aid President Donald Trump in restarting the U.S. economy. Talk show and radio host Andy Slater broke the news through his official Twitter. This followed a press conference earlier this week in which Trump stated he was putting together a group of sports commissioners and other executives to form an economic task force. Slater wrote on Twitter, "JUST NOW: Adam Silver, Rob Manfred, Roger Goodell, Gary Bettman, Robert Kraft, Jerry Jones, Dana White, and Vince McMahon are part of a large group that will help advise on how to restart the economy, President Trump says." He followed up with, "MORE: Mavs owner Mark Cuban will also be part of this group." He even quoted the President saying, “We need to get our sports back." This comes after weeks of Trump talking about wanting to restart the economy sooner rather than later. The inclusion of people such as White, Cuban and McMahon did not come as a surprise given their prowess as businessmen and owners in their respective fields. The men also happen to be personal friends of the President. McMahon made a name for himself by turning his father's wrestling promotion company WWF into the global phenomenon that it is today. Recently, he made headlines by furloughing WWE staff, releasing some of its superstars and cutting executives pay as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Source

Not the young. Not the old. Not the athletes. Not the healthy eaters. It's the nerds, the social misfits, socially awkward colleagues whom you don't even remember their names. The otakus, the tinder swiped lefts, the society rejects. Yea that's right. They are the ones you won't even stand close to on the bus, the ones you won't share a lift with. They have no place to go except stay alone in their rented room, or their parents basement where even the virus shun. They got no parties to attend, no high school get-togethers to be at; their soulmate is only solitude. Yet these are the ones who will survive this pandemic with ease with just a computer and working internet. Food is merely calories in some form. They don't even need to weigh in the macronutrients or whether it's roasted, baked or stewed. ...... So yeah we watching you socialites from afar, from a safe social distance, and we wait. We wait however long it takes. We alone, but we survive. One day, just one day, introverts and social distancing will be the norm. We be waiting.

Coronavirus Australia: Queensland researchers find ‘cure’, want drug trial A team of Australian researchers say they’ve found a cure for the novel coronavirus and hope to have patients enrolled in a nationwide trial by the end of the month. University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research director Professor David Paterson told news.com.au today they have seen two drugs used to treat other conditions wipe out the virus in test tubes. He said one of the medications, given to some of the first people to test positive for COVID-19 in Australia, had already resulted in “disappearance of the virus” and complete recovery from the infection. Prof Paterson, who is also an infectious disease physician at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, said it wasn’t a stretch to label the drugs “a treatment or a cure”. “It’s a potentially effective treatment,” he said. “Patients would end up with no viable coronavirus in their system at all after the end of therapy.” The drugs are both already registered and available in Australia. “What we want to do at the moment is a large clinical trial across Australia, looking at 50 hospitals, and what we’re going to compare is one drug, versus another drug, versus the combination of the two drugs,” Prof Paterson said. Given their history, researchers have a “long experience of them being very well tolerated” and there are no unexpected side effects. “We’re not on a flat foot, we can sort of move ahead very rapidly with enrolling Australians in this trial,” Prof Paterson said. “It’s the question we all have – we know it’s coming now, what is the best way to treat it?” Prof Paterson said positive experiences in the fight against coronavirus have already been recorded overseas, citing China and Singapore. His research team are confident they can start getting the drugs to patients in a very safe way on home soil. “We want to give Australians the absolute best treatment rather than just someone’s guesses or someone’s anecdotal experiences from a few people,” Prof Paterson told news.com.au. He said they hope to be enrolling patients by the end of March. “And that way, if we can test it in this first wave of patients, we do fully expect that there are going to be ongoing infections for months and months ahead, and therefore we’ll have the best possible information to treat subsequent patients,” Prof Paterson said. “That’s really our aim, to get real world experience in Australia.” He said the trouble with the data coming from China was that it wasn’t really gathered “in a very controlled way”, given they were the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak at the time. “Things were just chaotic,” Prof Paterson said. “There were these emergency hospitals being built and the system really being very, very stretched.” One of the two medications is a HIV drug, which has been superseded by “newer generation” HIV drugs, and the other is an anti-malaria drug called chloroquine which is rarely used and “kept on the shelf now” due to resistance to malaria. He said the researchers want to study them in a “very meaningful way” against the coronavirus to “try and alleviate that anxiety of Australians”. “There have already been patients treated with these in Australia and there’s been successful outcomes but it hasn’t been done in a controlled or a comparative way,” Prof Paterson said. The drugs would be given orally, as tablets. Prof Paterson said patients would be asked to participate “as soon as they’re admitted” to hospital with the aim of beginning treatment “very early on in their illness”. He said the research was sparked by Chinese patients, who were first given the drug in Australia, showing their doctors information on the internet about the treatment used overseas. “Our doctors were very, very surprised that a HIV drug could actually work against the novel coronavirus and there was a bit of scepticism,” he said. “That first wave of Chinese patients we had (in Australia), they all did very, very well when they were treated with the HIV drug. “That’s reassuring … that we’re onto something really good here.” The RBWH Foundation has established a Coronavirus Action Fund. By Monday afternoon it had raised $30,000 of the desired $750,000 for the clinical drug trials and other related medical research. “The trials will start as soon as funding is secured,” the fund states. When asked why they had to put a call out money, Prof Paterson said they “want to give as many people in Australia access to this” and can’t take doctors away from their normal work. “The reality is that doctors are going to need to be concentrating on their patients and we need to get a very strong research team across Australia that can make sure that all the Is are dotted and the Ts are crossed and make sure that it is a really high-quality study so that we can be really confident in the results,” he said. “We did this with bushfires, this is an example where we’re reaching out to the public to put the financial support behind the study so it can get underway. “Fifty hospitals have expressed interest in participating and we expect there may even be more to come.” Source

Coronavirus Italy: Man recovers from COVID-19 using drug designed for ebola There are hopes that an experimental drug initially designed to treat ebola could cure patients of coronavirus, after a 79-year-old Italian man who had tested positive to COVID-19 was given the all-clear following treatment. The man was cleared on Tuesday, the President of Italy’s Liguria region Giovanni Toti said, after taking the drug remdesivir. Mr Toti described it as the “first real case of coronavirus cured”, according to The Telegraph. Remdesivir, a broad-spectrum antiviral developed by US drug firm Gilead was originally designed to treat ebola in a Scottish nurse when she suffered a relapse 18 months after being cleared of the disease, contracted while volunteering in Sierra Leone. A drug initially designed to treat ebola could be successful in curing the coronavirus. Picture: Jessica Hill/APSource:AP Now, the drug is being tested in five coronavirus clinical trials – including by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) on 13 patients who were hospitalised after contracting coronavirus on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. While it’s far from a confirmed cure, it raises hope that drugs can eventually be used to treat the coronavirus – which has now infected close to a quarter of a million people around the world. The virus outbreak in Italy has now become the world’s deadliest, killing more than 3400 people. Redemsivir also showed success in the treatment of monkeys infected with MERs, a different type of coronavirus. Around the globe, medical experts are racing to find a cure for COVID-19. In the US, clinical trials on a vaccine have begun, with President Donald Trump announcing on Friday that two drugs could be a “game changer” in treating coronavirus and will be made available “almost immediately” by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). During a briefing with the coronavirus taskforce at the White House, the US President said the antimalarial drugs – hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine – would soon be available for “prescribed use”. “It’s been around for a long time, so we know if things don’t go as planned, it’s not going to kill anybody,” he said, adding that the early results had been “encouraging”. “We have to remove every barrier or a lot of barriers that were unnecessary and they’ve done that to get the rapid deployment of safe, effective treatments and we think we have some good answers. “This could be a tremendous breakthrough.” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn told reporters he had “great hope for how we are going to come out of this situation”. “What’s important is not to provide falsehood, but provide hope,” he said. Closer to home, in Queensland researchers believe they’re close – if not already there – to finding a cure, and are now chasing funding to begin clinical trials. University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research director Professor David Paterson told news.com.au they have seen two drugs used to treat other conditions wipe out the virus in test tubes. He said one of the medications, given to some of the first people to test positive for COVID-19 in Australia, had already resulted in “disappearance of the virus” and complete recovery from the infection. Prof Paterson, who is also an infectious disease physician at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, said it wasn’t a stretch to label the drugs “a treatment or a cure”. “It’s a potentially effective treatment,” he said. “Patients would end up with no viable coronavirus in their system at all after the end of therapy.” Source

World Feared China Over Coronavirus. Now the Tables Are Turned. Asian countries that suffered through the pandemic first are working to guard against a new wave of contagion from the West. The fear and suspicion directed at China in the devastating early days of the coronavirus outbreak have made a 180-degree turn: It is the West that now frightens Asia and the rest of the world. With Italy, Spain and the United States surging in contagion, many countries in Asia that suffered through the pandemic first seem to have wrestled it into submission, particularly China — and are now fighting to protect against a new wave of infection from outside. Across Asia, travelers from Europe and the United States are being barred or forced into quarantine. Gyms, private clinics and restaurants in Hong Kong warn them to stay away. Even Chinese parents who proudly sent their children to study in New York or London are now mailing them masks and sanitizer or rushing them home on flights that can cost $25,000. “We came back because we think going back to China is safer than staying in New York,” said Farrah Lyu, a 24-year-old recent college graduate who flew home to eastern China with her roommate this month. The reversal of fortune would have been unimaginable a week ago. At the time, China was the outbreak’s global epicenter, with people dying by the hundreds each day. But on Thursday, it reported no new local cases for the first time since the outbreak began. Its uncompromising response — locking down cities, shutting factories, testing thousands — seems to have brought China’s contagion under control. Now the pandemic that originated in China is migrating and starting to recirculate. Across Asia, where Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea successfully grappled with the virus early, alongside China, there is a growing sense of fear and dismay. Much of the region looks west and asks: We’re getting it right — why can’t you? For President Trump, the answer has been deflection. Facing a torrent of criticism for playing down the epidemic in its crucial early stages, he has been trying to push blame back to China, worsening existing tensions between the two superpowers. Despite warnings that he is encouraging xenophobia, Mr. Trump has repeatedly used the term “China virus” in what critics see as an effort to distance himself from the problem. Beijing has retaliated by falsely suggesting that the virus started with American troops, while portraying itself as a heroic warrior against the contagion and a model for the world. Especially in China and the Chinese diaspora, there is a growing demand for recognition of the hard work and sacrifices that tamed the outbreak, and a desire to tell the world what has gone right and wrong, and why. “People in Western countries said China’s response was too authoritarian, didn’t respect people’s democracy and freedom enough,” said Yin Choi Lam, a Vietnamese-Chinese restaurant owner in Melbourne, Australia. “Now compare it to places like Italy, where the death rate is so high, or America, where no one knows how many people are sick. Would you rather have freedom or keep your life?” Similar arguments are flooding Chinese social media. One popular comic shows China sick as the world watches behind a glass barrier, followed by a panel with an angry, healthy China behind the glass as other countries play and tussle without masks like unruly children. Some of the heaviest scorn, however, has been saved for those who return to China and question the country’s harsh approach. A video that went viral this week showed a Chinese-Australian woman being confronted by the police in Beijing after she evaded quarantine in order to exercise. Users of the microblogging platform Weibo called for her to be sent back to Australia. Critics both inside and outside China note that the country’s authoritarian response is not the only or the best way to fight an epidemic. Officials kept the virus secret for weeks, allowing it to spread uncontrolled in central China, then forced people to remain in overwhelmed cities. By contrast, South Korea, a vibrant capitalist democracy, along with Taiwan and Singapore, has managed the virus with transparency, efficiency and solidarity, while preserving freedom of movement. Part of what has set some Asian countries apart is experience, said Leighanne Yuh, a historian at Korea University. “From the outset of the epidemic, South Koreans took the situation very seriously, perhaps because of their previous experiences with SARS and MERS,” she said. “Wearing masks, washing our hands, social distancing — these were all familiar actions.” In the United States and Europe, there was more hesitation. And now they are hubs of infection sending disease across the globe. In Australia, the United States is now the leading source of coronavirus cases, followed by Italy, then China. Infections in China are also coming from outside. Officials said on Thursday that 34 new cases had been confirmed among people who had arrived from elsewhere. Many people in China now want their government to completely block access from the United States and other hot spots in the same way other countries suspended arrivals from China. “I hope China can tighten its national borders and significantly reduce the number of people entering the country,” said Tang Xiaozhao, a plastic surgery manager in Shanghai. “Governments and people of most countries disappoint me,” she added. Hong Kong, a semiautonomous Chinese territory, has often acted as a bridge between China and the West, the shifting sense of angst can be seen in warnings from businesses where people gather. One online warning, posted by a pub called Hemingway’s DB, tells expats that they will be reported to the police if they violate a new official requirement for 14 days of self-isolation upon returning from overseas. And a large fitness chain emailed customers to tell anyone who has returned from abroad since March 10, or lives with someone who did: “Kindly do not visit.” For those with family members in the United States or Europe, there is also a frantic rush to help. On Wednesday at Hong Kong’s main post office, people lined up to send boxes of masks and alcohol wipes. “During SARS, my mother drove from Canada to the United States to buy masks, so I had to send some back to her,” said Eric Chan, 45, a financier. He was down to his last box in Hong Kong, but had gone from pharmacy to pharmacy until he snagged a few boxes for his mother and siblings at inflated prices. His own face was covered — most people in Hong Kong are still wearing masks. The city, with a population of seven million, has avoided total shutdowns, even as the virus peaked in mainland China. But this week Hong Kong moved to tighten its borders as it recorded a significant uptick in infections, most of them imported. The authorities are investigating five cases linked to Lan Kwai Fong, a nightlife area that is thronged with expatriates on weekends. Many of those who recently returned to China might have predicted just such a cluster. They see in the United States and Europe a greater urge to go it alone — and studies have found that Americans and Europeans tend to focus on the individual rather than what’s interconnected. Ms. Lyu, 24, and her roommate in New York, Tianran Qian, 23 — who flew back to their homes in Hangzhou, in eastern China — said they found the American response disorienting. They had both been reading about outbreak clusters around the world for weeks, and for a time they stayed inside and wore masks as they would have at home. But their American friends continued to socialize, describing the virus as little more than the flu. “On your phone, you see what’s happening around the world, in Japan and Korea, and when you go into real life, people act as if it’s a normal day,” Ms. Lyu said, describing what it was like in New York before she left. “They either don’t get it or they just ignore it,” Ms. Qian said. “People were so indifferent.” At home in China, they said, they felt safer. They self-quarantined in their rooms, with their parents leaving food and novels at their bedroom doors. Their groceries were delivered and even their trash was collected and treated by hospital employees in hazmat suits. “Everything was planned,” Ms. Lyu said. “We don’t have to worry about everything.” Source

Now that not one but seven Chinese cities - including Wuhan, ground zero of the coronavirus epidemic - and collectively housing some 23 million people, are under quarantine... ... comparisons to the infamous Raccoon City from Resident Evil are coming in hot and heavy. And, since reality often tends to imitate if not art then certainly Hollywood, earlier today we jokingly asked if the Medical Research Institute at Wuhan University would end up being China's version of Umbrella Corp. As it turns out, it wasn't a joke, because moments ago it was brought to our attention that in February 2017, Nature penned an extensive profile of what it called the "Chinese lab poised to study world's most dangerous pathogens." The location of this BSL-4 rated lab? Why, Wuhan. A quick read of what this lab was meant to do, prompts the immediate question whether the coronavirus epidemic isn't a weaponized virus that just happened to escape the lab: The Wuhan lab cost 300 million yuan (US$44 million), and to allay safety concerns it was built far above the flood plain and with the capacity to withstand a magnitude-7 earthquake, although the area has no history of strong earthquakes. It will focus on the control of emerging diseases, store purified viruses and act as a World Health Organization ‘reference laboratory’ linked to similar labs around the world. “It will be a key node in the global biosafety-lab network,” says lab director Yuan Zhiming. The Chinese Academy of Sciences approved the construction of a BSL-4 laboratory in 2003, and the epidemic of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) around the same time lent the project momentum. The lab was designed and constructed with French assistance as part of a 2004 cooperative agreement on the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases. But the complexity of the project, China’s lack of experience, difficulty in maintaining funding and long government approval procedures meant that construction wasn’t finished until the end of 2014. The lab’s first project will be to study the BSL-3 pathogen that causes Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever: a deadly tick-borne virus that affects livestock across the world, including in northwest China, and that can jump to people. Future plans include studying the pathogen that causes SARS, which also doesn’t require a BSL-4 lab, before moving on to Ebola and the West African Lassa virus, What does BSL-4 mean? BSL-4 is the highest level of biocontainment: its criteria include filtering air and treating water and waste before they leave the laboratory, and stipulating that researchers change clothes and shower before and after using lab facilities. Such labs are often controversial. The first BSL-4 lab in Japan was built in 1981, but operated with lower-risk pathogens until 2015, when safety concerns were finally overcome. And here's why all this is an issue: Worries surround the Chinese lab. The SARS virus has escaped from high-level containment facilities in Beijing multiple times, notes Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Below we repost the full Nature article because it strongly hints, without evidence for now, that the coronavirus epidemic may well have been a weaponized virus which "accidentally" escaped the Wuhan biohazard facility. NEVER MISS THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOST Inside the Chinese lab poised to study world's most dangerous pathogens A laboratory in Wuhan is on the cusp of being cleared to work with the world’s most dangerous pathogens. The move is part of a plan to build between five and seven biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) labs across the Chinese mainland by 2025, and has generated much excitement, as well as some concerns. Hazard suits hang at the National Bio-safety Laboratory, Wuhan, the first lab on the Chinese mainland equipped for the highest level of biocontainment. Some scientists outside China worry about pathogens escaping, and the addition of a biological dimension to geopolitical tensions between China and other nations. But Chinese microbiologists are celebrating their entrance to the elite cadre empowered to wrestle with the world’s greatest biological threats. “It will offer more opportunities for Chinese researchers, and our contribution on the BSL‑4-level pathogens will benefit the world,” says George Gao, director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology in Beijing. There are already two BSL-4 labs in Taiwan, but the National Bio-safety Laboratory, Wuhan, would be the first on the Chinese mainland. The lab was certified as meeting the standards and criteria of BSL-4 by the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) in January. The CNAS examined the lab’s infrastructure, equipment and management, says a CNAS representative, paving the way for the Ministry of Health to give its approval. A representative from the ministry says it will move slowly and cautiously; if the assessment goes smoothly, it could approve the laboratory by the end of June. BSL-4 is the highest level of biocontainment: its criteria include filtering air and treating water and waste before they leave the laboratory, and stipulating that researchers change clothes and shower before and after using lab facilities. Such labs are often controversial. The first BSL-4 lab in Japan was built in 1981, but operated with lower-risk pathogens until 2015, when safety concerns were finally overcome. The expansion of BSL-4-lab networks in the United States and Europe over the past 15 years — with more than a dozen now in operation or under construction in each region — also met with resistance, including questions about the need for so many facilities. The Wuhan lab cost 300 million yuan (US$44 million), and to allay safety concerns it was built far above the flood plain and with the capacity to withstand a magnitude-7 earthquake, although the area has no history of strong earthquakes. It will focus on the control of emerging diseases, store purified viruses and act as a World Health Organization ‘reference laboratory’ linked to similar labs around the world. “It will be a key node in the global biosafety-lab network,” says lab director Yuan Zhiming. The Chinese Academy of Sciences approved the construction of a BSL-4 laboratory in 2003, and the epidemic of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) around the same time lent the project momentum. The lab was designed and constructed with French assistance as part of a 2004 cooperative agreement on the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases. But the complexity of the project, China’s lack of experience, difficulty in maintaining funding and long government approval procedures meant that construction wasn’t finished until the end of 2014. The lab’s first project will be to study the BSL-3 pathogen that causes Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever: a deadly tick-borne virus that affects livestock across the world, including in northwest China, and that can jump to people. Future plans include studying the pathogen that causes SARS, which also doesn’t require a BSL-4 lab, before moving on to Ebola and the West African Lassa virus, which do. Some one million Chinese people work in Africa; the country needs to be ready for any eventuality, says Yuan. “Viruses don’t know borders.” Gao travelled to Sierra Leone during the recent Ebola outbreak, allowing his team to report the speed with which the virus mutated into new strains. The Wuhan lab will give his group a chance to study how such viruses cause disease, and to develop treatments based on antibodies and small molecules, he says. The opportunities for international collaboration, meanwhile, will aid the genetic analysis and epidemiology of emergent diseases. “The world is facing more new emerging viruses, and we need more contribution from China,” says Gao. In particular, the emergence of zoonotic viruses — those that jump to humans from animals, such as SARS or Ebola — is a concern, says Bruno Lina, director of the VirPath virology lab in Lyon, France. Many staff from the Wuhan lab have been training at a BSL-4 lab in Lyon, which some scientists find reassuring. And the facility has already carried out a test-run using a low-risk virus. But worries surround the Chinese lab, too. The SARS virus has escaped from high-level containment facilities in Beijing multiple times, notes Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Tim Trevan, founder of CHROME Biosafety and Biosecurity Consulting in Damascus, Maryland, says that an open culture is important to keeping BSL-4 labs safe, and he questions how easy this will be in China, where society emphasizes hierarchy. “Diversity of viewpoint, flat structures where everyone feels free to speak up and openness of information are important,” he says. Yuan says that he has worked to address this issue with staff. “We tell them the most important thing is that they report what they have or haven’t done,” he says. And the lab’s inter­national collaborations will increase openness. “Transparency is the basis of the lab,” he adds. The plan to expand into a network heightens such concerns. One BSL-4 lab in Harbin is already awaiting accreditation; the next two are expected to be in Beijing and Kunming, the latter focused on using monkey models to study disease. Lina says that China’s size justifies this scale, and that the opportunity to combine BSL-4 research with an abundance of research monkeys — Chinese researchers face less red tape than those in the West when it comes to research on primates — could be powerful. “If you want to test vaccines or antivirals, you need a non-human primate model,” says Lina. But Ebright is not convinced of the need for more than one BSL-4 lab in mainland China. He suspects that the expansion there is a reaction to the networks in the United States and Europe, which he says are also unwarranted. He adds that governments will assume that such excess capacity is for the potential development of bioweapons. “These facilities are inherently dual use,” he says. The prospect of ramping up opportunities to inject monkeys with pathogens also worries, rather than excites, him: “They can run, they can scratch, they can bite.” The central monitor room at China’s National Bio-safety Laboratory If that wasn't enough, here is January 2018 press release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, announcing the launch of the "top-level biosafety lab." China has put its first level-four biosafety laboratory into operation, capable of conducting experiments with highly pathogenic microorganisms that can cause fatal diseases, according to the national health authority. Level four is the highest biosafety level, used for diagnostic work and research on easily transmitted pathogens that can cause fatal diseases, including the Ebola virus. The Wuhan national level-four biosafety lab recently passed an assessment organized by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, according to a news release on Friday from the Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Virologists read data on a container for viral samples at China's first level-four biosafety lab at the Institute of Virology in Wuhan After evaluating such things as the lab's management of personnel, facilities, animals, disposals and viruses, experts believed the lab is qualified to carry out experiments on highly pathogenic microorganisms that can cause fatal diseases, such as Marburg, Variola, Nipah and Ebola. "The lab provides a complete, world-leading biosafety system. This means Chinese scientists can study the most dangerous pathogenic microorganisms in their own lab," the Wuhan institute said. It will serve as the country's research and development center on prevention and control of infectious diseases, as a pathogen collection center and as the United Nations' reference laboratory for infectious diseases, the institute said. Previous media reports said the Wuhan P4 lab will be open to scientists from home and abroad. Scientists can conduct research on anti-virus drugs and vaccines in the lab. The lab is part of Sino-French cooperation in the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases, according to the news release. The central government approved the P4 laboratory in 2003 when the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome spread alarm across the country. In October 2004, China signed a cooperation agreement with France on the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases. This was followed by a succession of supplementary agreements. With French assistance in laboratory design, biosafety standards establishment and personnel training, construction began in 2011 and lasted for three years. In 2015, the lab was put into trial operation. Source

Only one lab in China can safely handle the new coronavirus (Image: © CC2.0 Flickr/davidmartindavies ) As an escalating viral outbreak unfolds in China, only one lab in the country meets the required biosafety standards needed to study the new disease. The lab happens to sit in the center of Wuhan, the city where the newly identified coronavirus first appeared, according to the Hindustan Times, an Indian news outlet. The facility, known as the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory, is housed within the Chinese Academy of Sciences and was specifically designed to help Chinese scientists "prepare for and respond to future infectious disease outbreaks," according to a 2019 report published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Chinese government moved to construct such a lab following the 2003 SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic, during which more than 8,000 people caught the infection and more than 750 died worldwide, according to the CDC. Laboratories that handle pathogens receive a rating of 1 to 4, depending on what class of microbe they can feasibly contain, with 1 representing the lowest risk and 4 representing the highest risk. Designated at Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4), the Wuhan lab can hold the world's most dangerous pathogens at maximum biocontainment levels. Related: 27 Devastating Infectious Diseases All researchers in a BSL-4 lab must change their clothing upon entering the facility, shower upon exiting and decontaminate all of the materials used during experimentation, according to the CDC. Lab members wear full-body, pressurized suits to isolate themselves from the surrounding environment. The lab itself must be held in a separate building or an isolated wing within the surrounding university and must be supplied with its own air filtration and decontamination systems. BSL-4 labs are built to contain infectious agents such as the Ebola, Nipah and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever viruses, all of which are highly transmissible and frequently fatal diseases. Although China intends to build five to seven high-containment laboratories by 2025, as of now, only the Wuhan lab can currently contain pathogens of this nature, according to the 2019 CDC report. Chinese health officials have classified the new coronavirus as a Class B infectious disease, placing the illness in the same category as SARS and HIV/AIDS, The Washington Post reported. However, the Chinese government announced that it will institute Class A controls — which are usually reserved for more dangerous diseases, like cholera and the plague — in an attempt to contain the outbreak. Reports of the first infection of this coronavirus in a U.S. citizen, a man in Washington state, have already prompted Chinese health authorities to place Wuhan under quasi-quarantine, meaning that movement to and from the region is now under tight control. Authorities may forcibly quarantine individuals known or suspected to be infected with the virus and will inform the public of each new case identified in China, according to The Washington Post. More than 400 people have contracted the new coronavirus in China so far, along with others in Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the U.S. China's supply of surgical masks is running low, and many travelers have canceled their plans for the upcoming Lunar New Year because of fears of becoming infected, the South China Morning Post reported. Only time will tell how and when the outbreak will be quelled and whether the outbreak presents any substantial threat to global health. Source