| 11 Février 2020
Coronavirus(2019-nCoV)Situation Report –22SITUATION IN NUMBERS total and new cases in last 24 hours
Globally 43 103 confirmed (2560new)
China42 708 confirmed (2484 new)7333 severe (849 new)1017 deaths (108 new)
Outside of China395 confirmed (76 new)24 countries1 death
WHO RISK ASSESSMENTChinaVery HighRegional LevelHighGlobal LevelHigh
Data as reported by 11 February 2020*
HIGHLIGHTS
• No new countries reported cases of 2019-nCoV in the past 24 hours.
• An advanced team is currently in Beijing to prepare an international mission and to determine the questions the international team will want to learn more about: from characteristics of the virus to public health response China put in place to try to contain the virus.
The group of international experts, with a range of specializations, will work with Chinese counterparts on increasing understanding of the outbreak to guide global response efforts. Since being notified of the outbreak on 31 December, the WHO Country Office in China, supported by the regional and international offices, has worked to support China, and indeed the world, to scale up the response. A small mission was sent to Wuhan mid-January,and the Director-General visited in January.
• Following WHO best practicesfor naming of new human infectious diseases, which were developed in consultation and collaboration with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), WHO has named the disease COVID-19, short for “coronavirus disease 2019.”
TECHNICAL FOCUS: Zoonotic component of 2019-nCoV and human-animal interfaceIncreasing evidences demonstrate the link between the 2019-nCoV and other similar known coronaviruses (CoV) circulating in bats, and more specifically those of the Rhinolophus bat sub-species. These sub-species are abundant and widely present in Southern China, and across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Recent studies indicate that more than 500CoVs have been identified in bats in China. To be noted that serological studies conducted in rural population living close to bats natural habitat in caves revealed a 2.9% bat-CoV seroprevalence, demonstrating that humans exposure to bat-CoVs might be common.1
However,the route of transmission to humans at the start of this event remains unclear. Bats are rare in markets in China but hunted and sold directly to restaurants for food.2The current most likely hypothesis is that an intermediary host animal has played a role in the transmission.
Both Chinese and external expert groups are working in trying to identify the animal source of this new virus. Identifying the animal source ofthe 2019-nCoV would help to ensure that there will be no further future similar outbreaks with the same virus and will also help understanding the initial spread of the disease in the Wuhan area. It would also increase our understanding of the virus and help us understand how these virusesjump from animals to humans. Thus,providing critical knowledge on how to protect us from future similar events. In this regard, strengthening food control and market hygiene activities in live food market will be essential to protect people from similar and other zoonotic diseases.
