Page 72 - ShowSight - June 2020

ON THE LINE
The Curse & Cause of
Coronavirus
BY BARBARA “BJ” ANDREWS
The problem with Coronavirus is
how common it is, how many different
forms it takes and how easily
it spreads.
The Coronavirus we think of in our dog’s vaccination seems to have mutated in 2020 and it has become devastating to humans—but plumb profitable for health providers and news organizations.
According to WHO (World Health Organization), Coronaviruses are “a large family of many viruses, ranging in severity from the common cold to more severe illnesses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).” You probably remember that SARS was a “new” type of Coronavirus that infected over 8,000 people in 2003. It was also said to be “of zoonotic origin” and by the time WHO took action there had already been “over 500 deaths and an additional 2,000 cases.”
NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) reported in December 2006 the “bat species (genus Rhinolophus)” was the res- ervoir host for many new viruses that have “a close genetic relationship with the Coronavirus which was associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).” So here we are in May 2020 and there has been no announced origin of the 2020 Coronavirus.
You might remember we were told it was a “bat attack” at the Wuhan China food market but, shucks, there are no known bat caves in that area.
The problem with Coronavirus is how common it is, how many different forms it takes, and how easily it spreads. Whereas people deplaning from China are shown being sprayed with a fog of disinfec- tant and we are shown footage of big trucks spraying “disinfectant” everywhere, if we do know how and why the United States is devastat- ed both in human fatalities and economic slaughter, we dare not say.
What about our animals? We do know that tigers at the Bronx Zoo were sick and deemed infected by Coronavirus. That was media hype and the panting reporters quickly went on to other “dreaded effects” caused by the virus.
70 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2020