World Health Organisation officials will gather again today to consider the seriousness of the Wuhan virus outbreak amid evidence of a growing death toll.
Meanwhile scientists have concluded that the coronavirus has been transmitted by snakes – and possibly bats – on sale at the wildlife market in Wuhan.
According to the analysis, rushed into print yesterday by the Journal of Medical Virology, the virus has been formed from the combination of a virus found in bats and a second virus of unknown virus.
The researchers concluded that this enabled it to infect snakes – and from there to infect human handlers.
The Chinese researchers write: “Results derived from our evolutionary analysis suggest for the first time that snake is the most probable wildlife animal reservoir for the 2019-nCoV.
“New information obtained from our evolutionary analysis is highly significant for effective control of the outbreak caused by the 2019-nCoV-induced pneumonia.”
The journal also calls for existing antiviral drugs to be tested against the new virus.
Yesterday the death toll from the outbreak increased rapidly from six to 17 as the Chinese authorities uncovered more cases in the Hubei province, surrounding Wuhan.
The British government tightened up on travellers, announcing it would be screening those flying in from Wuhan.
The US government reported treating its first patient in Seattle. The patient was treated in isolation using robot technology.
WHO’s emergency committee met officials from China yesterday.
WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he had had a series of discussions with China’s minister of health.
He said it was an "evolving and complex situation".
He added: "The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence."
Homologous recombination within the spike glycoprotein of the newly identified coronavirus may boost cross-species transmission from snake to human. Journal of Medical Virology 22 January 2020; doi: 10.1002/jmv.25682
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