A few more articles for today:
Yes, there are variant strains of this particular coronavirus out there. (I’ve heard eight different ones, but I don’t have a confirmation for that particular number, nor is it entirely relevant at this point.) To be honest, it would be more of a surprise if there weren’t. It is unknown at this point whether immunity to one strain makes you immune to all of these; however, the article referenced gives reasons for being optimistic, as the novel coronavirus is not as genetically complex on this score as, say, influenza. (The article gets much further into the technical side of matters — which is good if you are like me and want to see the science underlying the news.)
So it may be that once a vaccine is developed, you’ll need to have a new one every so often, like with influenza, where you get a new flu shot every year, but it doesn’t seem to be the case just yet.
Pathogens — viruses and bacteria — can and do mutate, so we’re going to have to be careful in the coming years…but that is true of a host of diseases we have to stay ahead of.
We also have a case of a tiger at the Bronx Zoo catching CoViD-19 (likely) from an asymptomatic human zookeeper. This is a surprise to me, as viruses usually target physiologies more narrowly than this, but apparently dogs and cats can get this from humans (the latter moreso than the former). There isn’t any evidence of transmission from cats or dogs to humans…but this is yet another item for the “wait and see” file, as I also haven’t yet seen what the theorized mechanism was for infecting the tiger in the first place. The American Veterinary Medical Association has released a statement, which was updated as of 1800 EDT yesterday, April 5.
Finally, a quick tip from a helpful veterinary assistant on Twitter: how to keep your glasses from fogging up while wearing a protective mask. (It involves medical tape — the kind you use on wound dressings. Should still be fairly easy to get.)
Filed under: health | Tagged: coronavirus, covid-19, masks, mutation, science, tigers, veterinary medicine | Leave a comment »
The Hidden Message 