- First appearing in China in mid-December, the new coronavirus has so far affected several hundred people and claimed the lives of 17 of them.
- While its epicenter is located in the city of Wuhan, this new virus is spreading and has passed the borders of China, with cases identified in particular in Japan, in Thailand, but also in the United States, which have just identified a case.
- Chinese authorities said on Wednesday that the virus would be able to mutate, further fueling concern over the new disease.
"2019-nCoV". Four numbers and four letters are enough to arouse worldwide fear. 2019-nCov is the name of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, which has killed 17 people and contaminated hundreds of people to date, according to a latest report. Adding to the fear, the virus could mutate, authorities warned on Wednesday, fueling fear of global spread.
This Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) met in Geneva to determine whether to declare a "public health emergency of international concern", while several countries neighboring China have identified ill. But if the virus is able to mutate, what does it mean? Should we fear a faster spread?
A virus potentially capable of mutating
At a press conference in Beijing, deputy minister of the national health commission, Li Bin, said the virus, which is transmitted through the respiratory tract, "could mutate and spread more easily." While hundreds of millions of people are preparing to travel for the Chinese New Year, and a first case of this coronavirus has been detected in the United States, should we be worried? “Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that we know can mutate and evolve quickly, as was the case with SARS, explains Sylvie Behillil, deputy head of the National Reference Center for Respiratory Infection Viruses (CNR) - including influenza - at the Institut Pasteur. It is by the very nature of this new coronavirus that we hypothesize possible mutations. But for the moment, we have no proof of it. ”
In practice, "it is possible that 2019-nCoV was initially only slightly pathogenic, causing little or no noticeable signs in animals," says Professor Yazdan Yazdanpanah, head of the infectious and tropical diseases department. of the Bichat Hospital, in Paris. A virus initially almost invisible and absent in humans, therefore undetectable. "One of the hypotheses that we make with this 2019-nCoV, and which is based on past examples of epidemics caused by coronaviruses, is that the virus, initially present in animals, could not be transmitted to the man. A mutation could perhaps explain why he could have passed from animal to man, then that a human-to-human transmission was possible ”.
Deemed unlikely a few days ago, we now know that human-to-human transmission has been proven. "It is a transmission by respiratory tracts, by droplets projected when one speaks or sneezes, but also by a close contact - of less than one meter - and repeated", describes Professor Yazdanpanah. A mode of transmission comparable to that of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), very similar to this new coronavirus. But before having the impression of being immersed in the film Contagion by Steven Soderbergh, you should know that a virus capable of mutating does not mean that everyone will die. “Mutations can have a variety of different effects. This can increase the contagiousness of the virus by making it more easily transmitted between men, or make it more virulent. But it can also have the opposite effect and make it less virulent, ”reassures Sylvie Behillil.
France "ready" to face the virus
The most important thing, "is that today, we are able to detect this virus, and to do it quickly," insists Professor Yazdanpanah. The fact that the Chinese authorities "shared its genetic sequence allowed us to work on the development of a screening tool," adds Sylvie Behillil. A specific diagnostic test is thus being developed within the CNR. We still need to assess it to determine if it is specific enough for this coronavirus and if it is effective enough. To do this, we have ordered and developed synthetic positive controls for the virus, which we will receive in the coming days. ” These positive controls, a sort of simulated version, will allow researchers to test the effectiveness of their diagnostic tool.
For now, the 2019-nCoV has not yet revealed all of these secrets. "We still do not know the duration of incubation," says Sylvie Behillil. But nothing to worry about before the time. "In France, active surveillance has been put in place, and if a suspect case was identified, it could not be proven without going through the CNR," she says. Everything is done so that, in the event of an epidemic, we are ready to act to contain the spread. ” Today, "we are able to identify this virus, which is crucial to contain its spread," adds Professor Yazdanpanah. Protocols are established and anyone with signs of the disease is placed in quarantine. ”
Prevention and disinfection
In China, while President Xi Jinping called for a "halt" to the epidemic, preventive measures - including ventilation and disinfection at airports, stations and shopping malls - have been put in place. Body temperature sensors could also be installed in busy sites, he said. A measure "that WHO did not recommend because it is not foolproof," says Sylvie Behillil. A number of countries with direct or indirect air links to Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the disease, have strengthened controls on arriving passengers, drawing on their experience of the SARS epidemic in 2002-2003, a virus of the same family.
If no case of 2019-nCoV has yet been identified in France, "direct flights connect Wuhan to Paris," says Sylvie Behillil. Xi Jinping assured Emmanuel Macron by telephone that China had adopted "strict prevention and control measures", according to remarks reported by the New China agency. On the French side, "information is communicated to all travelers returning from China to make them aware of the possible risks of this virus," explains Sylvie Behillil. Anyone with an acute respiratory infection (fever, cough, shortness of breath) within fifteen days of returning from a stay in China must dial 15 ”.
Finally, as with all coronaviruses, common sense measures, such as good hand hygiene, should be adopted to minimize the risks. "We must also keep in mind that classic flu is present at the moment, in China as in France," remind Sylvie Behillil and Professor Yazdanpanah together. So in case of symptoms, you have to wear a protective mask, avoid regrouping and make sure to wash your hands very regularly ”.
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