What you really need to know about COVID-19

Unless you are living under a rock, you are aware of the corona virus outbreak – dubbed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (Who).  Corona viruses are interesting!  Lots and lots of corona viruses are already known to the scientific community, and most are fairly species-specific.  Corona viruses are so named for their microscopic appearance as though they have a crown.  Once a corona decides to produce illness in a new species, it becomes novel.  Once that novel corona achieves sustained transmission among the new species, it escalates to rock star status.  So, how did we get here, with the current rock star, COVID-19, and what should we do about it?

 In late 2019, the initial human case was identified in Wuhan, China.  Word quickly spread, along with the virus, and the world responded by attempting to contain the virus to China.  Well, that only works BEFORE the horse exits the barn.  So, as with SARS before it, COVID-19 was a global issue very quickly.  The words quarantine and isolation were tossed about frequently (and often incorrectly) by all of our favorite news anchors.  As a gentle reminder, quarantine is action taken when a person or animal has been potentially exposed to a pathogen.  Isolation is what is done with those persons or animals either displaying illness or laboratory confirmed infected – or both!  Based on what is known about other corona viruses, the incubation period for COVID-19 is similar (14 days) with the current average being ~5 days.  Thus, people are quarantined/isolated for 14 days to prevent shedding of virus to others.

 All of this is interesting, but how is COVID-19 transmitted?  Since it produces respiratory illness, does that mean that it is aerosolized?  Well, sorta, and no.  COVID-19 appears to be spread through contact with infected droplets, i.e. schmutz from a sneeze, or a cough.  The droplets are believed to spread only about 6ft from the infected person, so as long as you maintain some good personal distance, you should be fine. COVID-19 may survive on hard surfaces for a few hours, but not on soft surfaces, and fomites are not suspected to play a large role in transmission.  

And what about animals, specifically companion animals?  We know that corona viruses are zoonotic as a group and that fruit bats are the reservoir, generally.  Recent novel corona viruses SARS and Mers-CoV have intermediate hosts of civets and camels, respectively.  To date, no intermediate host has been identified for COVID-19.  Sure, snakes were implicated initially, then pangolins…what may be next? Giant pandas?  I digress.  In Hong Kong, a dog belonging to a person positive for COVID-19 tested positive as well.  Initially, environmental contamination was blamed for the positive PCR test result.  However, with repeated tests remaining positive, it seems likely that the dog is indeed positive.  Serological tests (paired titers) are pending.  The dog is ASYMPTOMATIC!  Thus, it is unclear if the dog is able to transmit the virus or if it is merely a dead-end host.  Bottom line – continue to hug your dog, unless you are quarantined.  Then, keep your schmutz to yourself and ask your pup to do the same!

 Now we arrive at what is likely the most interesting component of this current COVID-19 story – the media and the ensuing panic.  In the USA, a person’s risk of contracting COVID-19 remains very low.  If you hang out with people who recently traveled abroad, your risk increases slightly.  If you spend time with people who just got back from China, your risk goes up.  But, remember, just keep a 6ft or greater distance from everyone and your risk remains low no matter who is in the room!  

At this time, there is no reason to cancel your normal daily activities.  In fact, if you embrace routine measures to prevent influenza infection during flu season, you should be good!  Data still indicates that the flu presents a bigger threat to most of us than COVID-19.   Take a spring break vacation, continue to love your pets and talk to pet owners about routine preventive measures for infectious disease and please, please, remain calm.  After all, it is not your head that currently bears the crown…