Flu leaves 4-year-old Iowa girl blind
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/flu-leaves-4-year-old-iowa-girl-blind-n1114356

A four-year-old girl in Iowa who didn't get vaccinated this season was left blind after getting the flu — and her parents said doctors don’t know if she will ever see again.

Jade DeLucia’s mother took her to the hospital on Christmas Eve when her fever became dangerously high.

Get a flu shot.

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Scary Virus. :(
Never-before-seen virus in China outbreak kills one, spreads to Thailand
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01/never-before-seen-virus-in-china-outbreak-kills-one-spreads-to-thailand/

A never-before-seen virus that sparked an outbreak of viral pneumonia in the Chinese city of Wuhan has now killed one person and spread to Thailand via a sick traveler.

On Saturday, January 11, officials in Wuhan reported that a 61-year-old man died January 9. Testing indicated he was carrying the virus, which researchers have confirmed is a novel strain of coronavirus.

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No end in sight....

Cases traced to Mabalako still fueling DRC Ebola outbreak
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/01/cases-traced-mabalako-still-fueling-drc-ebola-outbreak

A known transmission chain from Ayola health zone in Mabalako, a town in North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), is linked to a resurgence of Ebola in Beni health zone, which hadn't seen an Ebola case in 29 days, and new cases in Musienene health zone, where no cases had been reported for 132 days.

Both Beni and Musienene are also in North Kivu province.

The World Health Organization (WHO) described the transmission chain in its latest situation report on the outbreak, which covered the second week of January. Eight new cases were confirmed from Jan 6 to Jan 12, including three in Beni and one in Musienene.

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China Confirms New Coronavirus Spreads From Humans to Humans
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/20/world/asia/coronavirus-china-symptoms.html

WUHAN, China — The mysterious coronavirus that has killed at least three people and sickened more than 200 in China is now capable of spreading from person to person, a prominent Chinese scientist said on Monday, adding to fears of a broader pandemic.

The disclosure increased pressure on the Chinese government to contain a growing public health crisis, just as China enters its busiest travel season of the year.

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from Tuesday.

New China virus: US announces first case
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51194651


The United States has confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus on its territory.

The Centers for Disease Control said the virus, which originated in China, had been diagnosed in a traveller who arrived in Seattle from China.

The virus, which spread from the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected almost 300 people, and six have died.

North Korea has temporarily closed its borders to foreign tourists in response to the threat, a tour operator says.

The patient diagnosed in the US returned from Wuhan on 15 January, the CDC said.

"The patient sought care at a medical facility in the state of Washington, where the patient was treated for the illness," it added in a statement.

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The Chinese corona virus has spread to more countries. On Thursday, Singapore and Vietnam authorities confirmed that the virus was detected in their countries. According to the Indian Foreign Minister, an Indian has also been confirmed to be infected in Saudi Arabia. That's what Reuters reports.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51213188
Second coronavirus patient confirmed in US

A second person in the US has been diagnosed with the deadly coronavirus, US officials say.

The patient is a woman in her 60s who had returned home to Chicago from Wuhan in China - where the outbreak began - on 13 January.

There are 63 patients in 22 US states being monitored for signs of the rare respiratory illness, US officials say.

Globally, there are more than 800 confirmed cases of the virus, which has killed 26 people in China.

There better be a vaccine soon. I hope.

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http://news.trust.org/item/20200127192459-dowhs
U.S. State Department warns against visiting China, citing coronavirus

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Monday warned against visiting China and said Americans should not travel to the Hubei province, given that the province's city of Wuhan is ground zero for a new deadly coronavirus.

The State Department has already ordered the departure of all non-emergency U.S. personnel and family members from the province and the "U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services" to its citizens there.

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FDA Warns Purell to Stop Claiming It Can Prevent the Flu
https://www.thecut.com/2020/01/fda-warns-purell-to-stop-claiming-it-can-prevent-the-flu.html

Purell is great for taking out of your handbag at the end of dinner to demonstrate your commitment to personal hygiene and remove any remaining particles of sauce, but according to the Food and Drug Administration, it’s no miracle substance.

Last week, the FDA sent Gojo Industries, the manufacturer of Purell, a letter saying that its unsubstantiated claims that its hand sanitizers can help protect against the flu, Ebola virus, the MRSA superbug, and norovirus are in violation of the agency’s Cosmetic Act.

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Bound to happen.

https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20200130/news/301309914/
US reports 1st case of person-to-person spread of new virus

NEW YORK -- Health officials Thursday reported the first U.S. case of person-to-person spread of the new virus from China.

The man is married to the Chicago woman who got sick from the virus after she returned from a trip to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak. There have been cases reported of the infectious virus spreading to others in a household or workplace in China and elsewhere.



The new case is the sixth reported in the United States. The other five were travelers who developed the illness after returning to the U.S. from China. The latest patient had not been in China.

The Chicago woman returned from central China on Jan. 13, then last week went to a hospital with symptoms and was diagnosed with the viral illness. She and her husband, both in their 60s, are hospitalized.

Experts have said they expected additional cases, and that at least some limited spread of the disease in the United States was likely. Health officials think the new virus spreads mainly from droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how the flu spreads.

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When the World Health Organization (WHO) held its third meeting in a week on the occasion of the corona virus, the organization announced a declaration of an international threat to human health (PHEIC). This has only been done four times before.
PHEIC https://www.who.int/ihr/procedures/pheic/en/

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/31/business/american-delta-united-flights-coronavirus/index.html
American, Delta and United airlines suspend most US- China flights amid coronavirus outbreak


New York (CNN Business)Three of the largest US airlines -- Delta, American and United -- have canceled more flights between the United States and China because of concerns about the spread of coronavirus.
For American Airlines, the nation's largest carrier, the decision comes after the union representing 15,000 pilots sued the company Thursday to immediately halt its US-China service, citing "serious, and in many ways still unknown, health threats posed by the coronavirus."

All flights should be canceled.
Public health emergency, NOW

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How to track the coronavirus: Dashboard delivers real-time view of the deadly virus | ZDNet 
https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-track-the-coronavirus-dashboard-delivers-real-time-view-of-the-deadly-virus/
https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

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Apr 3, 1999 - May 3, 2020

WaPo - More than 11,800 people in China have been diagnosed with coronavirus, the country’s health experts confirm; U.S. to deny entry to foreign nationals who recently visited China and quarantine returning Americans

More than 11,800 people have been diagnosed with the rapidly spreading virus. More than 250 have died, all of them in China. The State Department told Americans not to travel there and advised those who are already there to consider leaving.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/31/health/washington-coronavirus-study-nejm/index.html

New report on first US case of novel coronavirus details mild symptoms followed by pneumonia

(CNN)Doctors have shared new details about the first case of Wuhan coronavirus in the United States in a paper published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In the new report, doctors describe how the man progressed from initially mild, nonspecific symptoms to pneumonia on the ninth day of his illness.

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https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/02/asia/wuhan-coronavirus-philippines-intl-hnk/index.html
First person outside of mainland China dies of Wuhan coronavirus

Hong Kong (CNN)A man in the Philippines has died from the Wuhan coronavirus -- the first time a death has been reported outside mainland China since the outbreak began in December.

:-(

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1st patient diagnosed with coronavirus in U.S. released from hospital

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/1st-patient-diagnosed-coronavirus-u-s-released-hospital-n1129201

The first patient to be diagnosed with coronavirus in the United States is out of the hospital.

The man, who'd been hospitalized at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington, will remain in isolation while he continues to recover at home, according to the Snohomish Health District.

The unidentified man asked for privacy in a statement, adding, "I appreciate all of the concern expressed by members of the public, and I look forward to returning to my normal life."

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Wuhan 2019nCoV may be much worse than "officially" reported

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As many experts question the veracity of China's statistics for the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, Tencent over the weekend seems to have inadvertently released what is potentially the actual number of infections and deaths, which were astronomically higher than official figures.

On late Saturday evening (Feb. 1), Tencent, on its webpage titled "Epidemic Situation Tracker", showed confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (2019nCoV) in China as standing at 154,023, 10 times the official figure at the time. It listed the number of suspected cases as 79,808, four times the official figure.

The number of cured cases was only 269, well below the official number that day of 300. Most ominously, the death toll listed was 24,589, vastly higher than the 300 officially listed that day.

Moments later, Tencent updated the numbers to reflect the government's "official" numbers that day. Netizens noticed that Tencent has on at least three occasions posted extremely high numbers, only to quickly lower them to government-approved statistics.

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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-baby-tests-positive-symptoms-30-hours-after-birth-pregnant-mother-transmitted-wuhan-china/

Baby tests positive for coronavirus just 30 hours after birth
The coronavirus has infected at least 24,000 people worldwide, and officials in China now say the youngest person with the illness is a newborn baby who was infected just 30 hours after being born.

The state-run news site XinhuaNet says the infant was born on February 2 at a hospital in Wuhan, China — the city where the coronavirus outbreak originated. The baby's mother also tested positive for the virus before she gave birth, according to Union Hospital, affiliated with Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

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The baby's mother also tested positive for the virus before she gave birth, according to Union Hospital, affiliated with Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

Virus passes placental barrier.