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OpenWHO: Emerging respiratory viruses, including COVID-19: methods for detection, prevention, response and control

Module A - Module A: Introduction to Emerging respiratory viruses, including COVID-19

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[Slide #3] Hello everyone, my name is Maria Van Kerkhove. I'm with the World Health Organization and I am
the head of the Emerging Diseases and Zoonoses unit in the Health Emergencies Programme. I'm going to
go through today a module around emerging in respiratory viruses and give you an overview about what these
viruses are and a little bit about transmission.

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[Slide #4] By the end of this unit, you should be able to learn how viruses emerge, what coronaviruses are,
who is most at risk from getting infected with coronaviruses, and how to protect yourself.

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[Slide #5] If we look at the timeline of emerging viruses over the last several decades, we know that viruses
continue to emerge and they pose challenges to public health. Some of these examples are: Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), which emerged in 2002 in China; the 2009 H1N1 influenza,
which turned out to be a pandemic; the 2012 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
which first emerged in Saudi Arabia; and now, we have a novel coronavirus, the 2019 novel coronavirus
(COVID-19) which emerged in China in 2019.

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[Slide #6] So, how do these viruses emerge? So, we know that human health and animal health are linked
and it's been estimated that between 70 and 80 percent of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases are
known to be zoonotic, and that means that they can be transmitted between animals and humans. And, some
examples on the screen here are: avian influenza, which come from poultry; and MERS coronavirus, which
come from dromedary camels. And there are many reasons why we are seeing an emergence of viruses. This
includes things like population growth, climate change, increasing urbanization and international travel.

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[Slide #7] So, what is a coronavirus? Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which are known to cause
respiratory disease. And these illnesses range from the common cold to more severe diseases, such as Middle
East Respiratory Syndrome which is MERS, or SARS which is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. And now
we have this new novel coronavirus called 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which can cause mild disease,
all the way through severe disease and death.

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OpenWHO: Emerging respiratory viruses, including COVID-19: methods for detection, prevention, response and control

[Slide #8] Where do coronaviruses come from? SARS coronavirus was transmitted from civet cats to humans
in China in 2002 and MERS coronavirus was transmitted from dromedary camels to humans in Saudi Arabia
in 2012. There are several known coronaviruses that are circulating in animals that have not yet infected
humans. When a virus jumps from animals to humans, we call that a spillover event meaning that the virus
can be transmitted from animals to humans.

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[Slide #9] So, people at risk for novel coronaviruses are individuals who are exposed to the animal source,
such as people who are in close contact with animals, such as working in a live animal market. Other people
who are at risk for infection from human to human transmission are family members or health care workers
who are caring for a person infected with a new coronavirus.

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[Slide #10] So, how can you protect yourself from infection? There are several ways in which you can protect
yourself from infection. The first is to ensure that you wash your hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-
based rub and practice good respiratory hygiene, such as covering your mouth or nose with a medical mask
if you're sick, use a tissue or a sleeve or a flexed elbow when you cough or sneeze, and avoid unprotected
close contact with anyone who has respiratory symptoms cold or flu-like symptoms. And seek medical care if
you have a fever a cough or difficulty breathing.
When you're visiting animal markets, avoid direct unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces and make
sure that you wash your hands with soap and water after leaving a market, and make sure that you cook your
food thoroughly before you consume them.