N-CoV

 Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the
common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
(MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus
(nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.

 Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.
Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans
and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are
circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.

 Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of

breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia,
severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

 Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing,

covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and
eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as
coughing and sneezing.

 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that was first reported from Wuhan, China, on 31
December 2019.

 On February 11, 2020 the World Health Organization announced an official name for the
disease that is causing the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, first identified in Wuhan
China. The new name of this disease is coronavirus disease 2019, abbreviated as
COVID-19. In COVID-19, ‘CO’ stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease.
Formerly, this disease was referred to as “2019 novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV.”

 On February 11, 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, charged

with naming new viruses, named the novel coronavirus, first identified in Wuhan, China,
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, shortened to SARS-CoV-2.
As the name indicates, the virus is related to the SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-
CoV) that caused an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002-
2003, however it is not the same virus.

 Public health officials and partners are working hard to identify the original animal
source of the virus that causes COVID-19. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses,
some causing illness in people and others that circulate among animals, including
camels, cats and bats. Analysis of the genetic tree of this virus indicates it originated in
bats, but whether the virus jumped directly from bats or whether there was an
intermediary animal host is not, yet, known. SARS-CoV, another bat-origin coronavirus
jumped to infect people via civets, while MERS-CoV, another bat-origin coronavirus
jumped to people via camels.

ASF
  African swine fever (ASF) is a severe viral disease affecting domestic and wild pigs;

 It is responsible for serious production and economic losses;

 This transboundary animal disease (TAD) can be spread by live or dead pigs, domestic
or wild, and pork products; furthermore, transmission can also occur via contaminated
feed and fomites (non-living objects) such as shoes, clothes, vehicles, knives, equipment
etc., due to the high environmental resistance of ASF virus.

 There is no approved vaccine against ASF (unlike classical swine fever (‘Hog Cholera’)
which is caused by a different virus

 African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious hemorrhagic viral disease of domestic
and wild pigs, which is responsible for serious economic and production losses.

 It is caused by a large DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family, which also infects ticks of
the genus Ornithodoros.

 Although signs of ASF and classical swine fever (CSF) may be similar, the ASF virus is
unrelated to the CSF virus.

 ASF is a disease listed in the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Terrestrial
Animal Health Code and must be reported to the OIE.

 The viruses in the genus Asfivirus infect swine, resulting in an onset of African swine
fever. The name of this family and genus are derived from the English language
acronym: African swine fever and related viruses. Only a single species has been
described to date for this genus. This virus is the only known arthropod-borne DNA
viruses. It is enveloped and has a double-stranded DNA genome. African swine fever
virus exhibits some similarities in genome structure and replication strategies to the
poxviruses and phycodnaviruses, but has a different virion structure from poxviruses and
several other properties that distinguish it from the latter

What is African swine fever?

According to the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), ASF is a highly contagious viral
disease that affects pigs, warthogs, and boars.

It causes pigs to have high fever and lose their appetite. It also causes hemorrhages in the skin
and internal organs.

Death is certain. Pigs die in a span of 2 to 10 days upon affliction.

There is no known vaccine against ASF yet.

Which areas are affected?

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said 7 areas in two provinces in Luzon have been affected by
ASF. These are:

 Rizal - San Jose, Macabud, San isidro, San Rafael, Mascap, and Cupang in Antipolo
 Bulacan - Guiguinto

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, ASF has severely affected China, Mongolia,
Vietnam, Cambodia, some areas in South Korea, Laos, and Myanmar.

ASF outbreaks have been detected in 32 provinces in China. Almost 1.2 million pigs there have
been culled in an effort to halt the further spread of the disease.

Float (Pixar’s Animation)

 Written and directed by Bobby Rubio, Float follows the story of a father who discovers
that his son is quite different from the other kids in a very unique way. Hence, the
father—fearing judgment—keeps the child out of sight.

Eruption

 Phreatic explosion captured at the main crater of Taal Volcano. Video taken from the
installed IP camera of PHIVOLCS monitoring Taal Volcano
 The volcano erupted on the afternoon of January 12, 2020, 43 years after its previous
eruption in 1977.[5] According to PHIVOLCS director Renato Solidum, a phreatic
eruption was first recorded at around 1 pm Philippine Standard Time (UTC+8).[10

 As of February 13, 2020, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
Council (NDRRMC) and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and
Seismology (PHIVOLCS) have reported a total of 2,484 volcano tectonic earthquakes in
the Taal area since the eruption, 176 of which were felt.[25] The strongest were a series
of Mw 4.1 magnitude earthquakes originating 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) northwest
of Agoncillo, Batangas, which were recorded at least thrice: at 11:56 pm on January 12,
3:11 am on January 13, and 6:35 am later that day

 At least 6 eruptions during the recorded history of Taal since 1572 claimed
fatalities, mostly from powerful pyroclastic flows, as well as tsunamis produced in the
crater lake.

 Taal caused one of the worst volcano disasters in history: its eruption in 1911 killed
1334 people and caused ash fall as far as Manila city. Due to its devastating potential,
Taal was declared one of the "Decade Volcanoes" in the Decade Volcanoes program of
the 1990s in order to incentive study and monitoring of the volcano. Taal is today one of
the most closely monitored volcanoes in the region. An increase in seismic activity under
 Taal was recorded in November 2006, followed by an increase in hot water springs in
the crater in April 2007.

 The Philippines is home to 24 of 400 active volcanoes globally. Including other dormant
formations, Taal is part of the 407 volcanoes identified in the Philippines.

 Located in Batangas, Taal is part of a group of volcanoes on the Macolod Corridor. This
rift zone or the area where linear cracks develop stretches for about 50-60 kilometers
and includes Mt. Makiling bordering Batangas and Laguna, Mt. Bahanaw located
between Laguna and Quezon, and the Seven Lakes of San Pablo in Laguna.

 It has a main crater lake which is blue-green in color and is 1.9 kilometers in diameter.
The volcano has 47 craters in total, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology
and Seismology. The rest of the volcano is below sea level.

 Taal Volcano features a caldera that also has water in it. The "lake within a lake" view
made the area a tourist attraction.

 The lake is also home to the Tawilis, which is a small fish now considered an
endangered species due to overfishing and poor water quality.

 The land formation is called the Volcano Island, and is considered a permanent danger
zone as there are slim chances of survival in the area in the event of an eruption.

 Taal is considered the second most active volcano in terms of frequent eruptions, with
33 historical explosions thus far, Phivolcs said.