Where did COVID-19 come from? It may have started with bats

By now, everybody is aware of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, not everybody is aware of the history of the virus and where it came from.

The initial term for the virus, coronavirus, is an umbrella term for a variety of viruses that are fairly common, said Dr. Steve Nagy, a local physician. COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019, was first discovered in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019.

Nagy said it first manifested in some individuals with mild to severe symptoms. On the severe side, the infection caused respiratory and multi-system organ failure.

“It wound up many of them wound up dying from their illness,” he said.

Many coronaviruses have mutated from a virus that attacked some form of animal, Nagy explained, to one that could be spread to humans. The current theory, Nagy said, is that the COVID-19 virus came from contact with bats.

“They’re not completely certain of that, but it most likely did come from some type of animal, contact with an animal,” he said.

The difference between COVID-19 and other coronaviruses, such as the those that cause the Swine Flu and Avian Flu, is that they can only be transmitted through contact with an infected animal. Meanwhile, COVID-19 has developed for human-to-human transmission.

Throughout the first week of January, the World Health Organization reported on cases of pneumonia of an unknown cause in China. Jan. 10 was the first time WHO referred to the infection as a novel coronavirus in an advisory for countries to assess their ability to detect and respond to the virus. Three days later, the first case outside of China was detected in Thailand.

Jan. 19, the first patient in the U.S. presenting symptoms went to a clinic in Washington state after developing a cough, according to the New England Journal of Medicine. He had recently returned from Wuhan to visit family. Test results returned the next day, which confirmed he had the virus.

At the end of January, WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Such a declaration means WHO has identified a public health risk with the potential to spread and may require international response. In the last two days of January, Italy and Spain announced their first confirmed cases of the virus, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

On Feb. 11, the novel coronavirus received the name COVID-19 and at least eight counties had confirmed cases of the virus.

“Guidelines mandated that the name of the disease could not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people. It also needed to relate to the disease and be pronounceable. This choice will help guard against the use of other names that might be inaccurate or stigmatizing,” according to the WHO website.

The day after, the United Nations activated the WHO-led crisis management team, which brought together a variety of groups including the World Bank and UNICEF to address the virus.

The virus first reached Missouri on March 7, with a presumptive-positive in St. Louis County. By the end of March, Missouri had over 1,800 positives and 19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins. That number is now up to over 2,700 positive cases and 39 deaths.

“I think for a while we just had a problem getting people to really understand the severity of this,” Nagy said. “A lot of people we’ve seen in other parts of the country, where people are going on as if there really isn’t anything severe occurring.

“I’ve had a lot of individuals tell me that they really didn’t think this infection was a big deal. I’ve had a lot of younger people especially, that we’ve had to really work hard to convince that you not only need to do this for yourself, but you need to be following the CDC guidelines of social distancing and shelter in place. Not just for yourself, but for the protection of others. Finally, I think we’re starting to get through to people that this is a, it’s a real entity, it’s a very serious entity, and it can affect everyone in this country.”