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SUMMARY:Daniel Lucey on Global Viral Outbreaks
DESCRIPTION:On April 22\, 2013\, Daniel Lucey\, Adjunct Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at ‎Georgetown University Medical Center and an expert on global virus outbreaks\, delivered the ‎final CIRS Monthly Dialogue of the 2012-2013 academic year.  Titled “Global Travel and ‎Virus Outbreaks 2003-2013\,” the talk focused on past global outbreaks of respiratory diseases ‎like SARS and H1N1\, and a possible future one that has recently been discovered in the Middle ‎East. ‎ \n \n \nGiving some background into coronavirus epidemics\, Lucey explained that the severe acute ‎respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus first appeared in 2002 in Southeast China. He recalled ‎that “by the first half of 2003\, the SARS coronavirus had spread to twenty-nine nations on five ‎continents\,” largely through air travel. The virus initially spread through hospitals as infected ‎patients transmitted the disease to medical staff who in turn infected family members. The ‎contagion had a 10 percent fatality rate; out of the approximately 8\,000 people who were ‎diagnosed\, 800 people died. Due to the large percentage of fatalities\, the Chinese government ‎received heavy criticism for their handling of the situation\, but\, according to Lucey\, because this ‎was such a novel disease that spread at such a rapid pace\, it could not have been predicted\, nor ‎easily halted. \n \n \nThe World Health Organization (WHO) coined the term “super spreading event” to describe the ‎rapidity with which the virus was transmitted to multiple people in a short amount of time. A ‎decade after the outbreak of SARS\, it is still unclear why one person\, known as a “super ‎spreader\,” can transmit the virus to more than ten people\, while most others who are infected do ‎not transmit it to anyone else. “Of the 238 people with SARS in Singapore\, basically\, it could all ‎be traced back to five people – five so-called ‘super spreaders\,’” Lucey maintained\, citing a ‎publication from the WHO.‎ \n \n \nThe SARS coronavirus was initially found to have infected bats\, but was then transmitted to ‎intermediate hosts\, such as the civet cat\, which is known to be a culinary delicacy in some parts ‎of China\, Vietnam\, and Hong Kong. Through this close contact with animals\, the virus infected ‎people\, and then became contagious between humans. It is estimated that “two-thirds of all new ‎infectious diseases among humans over the last few decades have originated in animals\,” he ‎argued. Once the virus mutated and could be transmitted through the air\, it triggered an ‎international outbreak. ‎ \n \n \nIn the Middle East\, a novel coronavirus appeared in Jordan in 2012 and spread to medical staff ‎at a hospital and some of their family members in much the same pattern as the SARS and H1N1 ‎viruses were transmitted. It was first identified\, however\, in a patient in Saudi Arabia. The virus ‎was then also reported to have infected patients in Qatar and the UAE. Lucey maintained that ‎‎“by genetic sequencing\, it is very similar to the coronaviruses that are known to exist in bats\,” but ‎this connection remains unconfirmed. Lucey posed the question: “is the Middle East coronavirus ‎now\, in 2013\, like the SARS coronavirus in 2002 in terms of only causing sporadic infections and ‎only rarely causing person-to-person transmission?” ‎ \n \n \nIn conclusion\, Lucey argued that because “there is no antiviral drug treatment either then or ‎today\, neither for the SARS coronavirus\, nor the new virus discovered in the Middle East last ‎year\,” it is important to be vigilant about preventing the spread of the disease. There are two main ‎lessons that can be learned from the 2002-2003 SARS coronavirus epidemic that can be adapted ‎to mitigate the 2012-2013 new coronavirus in the Middle East. The first is that “hospital ‎outbreaks are early warnings” that indicate the rise of a contagious virus\, especially if medical ‎workers infect family members outside of the medical facility. The second is the international ‎spread of a virus due to air travel and contact of an infected person with others in different ‎countries. Lucey argued that “as new virus epidemics occur\, they have to start somewhere\, and ‎the sooner we can recognize them at the start\, the more likely we can stop them\, or at least ‎mitigate their serious effects – serious in terms of public health\, and serious in terms of economic ‎impact.”‎ \n \n \nDaniel Lucey\, MD\, MPH\, is a physician who completed his training in infectious diseases and ‎public health at Harvard University hospitals and School of Public Health. He worked at the ‎National Institutes of Health in the US Public Health Service as a Consultant Physician. During ‎the Severe Acute Respiratory (SARS) coronavirus outbreaks in 2003\, he traveled to Asia and ‎worked in a “SARS hospital” in Canada to gain first-hand experience with this new viral disease. ‎Similarly\, from 2004-2012 he traveled to Asia and Egypt to better understand bird flu viruses. ‎  \n \n \nArticle by Suzi Mirgani\, Manager and Editor for CIRS Publications.
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/daniel-lucey-global-viral-outbreaks/
CATEGORIES:American Studies,CIRS Faculty Lectures,Regional Studies
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