Recently, Hong Kong found the world's first case of hamster infection of the new crown virus outside the laboratory, Professor Chen Honglin of the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong School of Medicine said in an interview with Phoenix SATELLITE TV that once the new crown virus enters the animal body, it means that it is difficult for humans to extinguish the virus in a short period of time. If the virus is difficult to eliminate, it means that at some stage it is time to think about how to coexist with the virus.
The next key point of response is to keep the spread of the virus at a low level, including detecting the spread of the virus in large quantities and allowing some people to quickly test themselves.
The new crown virus has been raging for more than two years, and the number of confirmed infections in the world has exceeded 330 million so far. For Hong Kong, where the number of confirmed cases has been cleared locally for many days, two Cathay Pacific pilots carrying the mutant virus Omiclon have made the "foreign defense import" break the work overnight.
Although Omi kerong is not very harmful to personal health, it is extremely contagious, and many epidemiologists believe that the new crown virus has tended to "flu", just like the flu virus will coexist with humans. If they coexist, how can humanity fight a long-term battle against COVID-19? When will the epidemic stabilize in the long term?
With these questions, the Phoenix TV reporter walked into the laboratory of the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong School of Medicine. Prof Chan is one of the leaders of the research team at the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases at HKU, and is one of several expert teams around the world that are actively developing vaccines.
Chen Honglin said that a long time ago everyone has thought that the new crown virus is unlikely to disappear, with the virus variant, when it will be stable is still unknown, but at least two basic vaccines, while developing a good vaccine to maintain immunity, reduce severe morbidity and mortality, let people feel at ease, otherwise the productivity of society will be greatly affected.
Professor Chen Honglin, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong:
Many confirmed cases may not require hospitalization, but as soon as you have a fever, it will immediately affect the production force. As one individual said, if 50 percent of people are infected and 10 percent can't go to work, the productivity of this society will be greatly affected. So this is a problem, until the epidemic really does not affect many activities of society, including productivity, can it really be considered stable. Hopefully, the virus doesn't change in a bad direction, and we can have a good enough vaccine to maintain immunity.
At present, different countries have also adopted different control measures in response to the new crown epidemic, some adopt "herd immunity" or "virus coexistence", and Chinese mainland adopt "dynamic clearance". In this regard, Chen Honglin said that the situation in each region is different, including the mainland and Hong Kong, and the factors that should be considered in formulating strategies include population density and the configuration of the entire medical system.
We know that the mainland has a large population and the demand for the entire health care system. Although the disease caused by Omikeron is not very serious, there will still be a considerable number of people who need treatment. In the case of a medical system or a shortage of medical resources, the best way to control the infection rate is to keep the infection rate at a very low level. In this way, it is more relaxed to deal with the epidemic.
Recently, a female clerk at a pet store in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong was infected with the Delta variant virus, and another visiting female customer was also diagnosed. The test results showed that multiple hamsters and environmental samples in the pet store were positive for the new crown virus, and it was also the first time in the world that a hamster had been infected with the new crown virus outside the laboratory, and it was not excluded that it was transmitted from animals to humans.
Some veterinarians said that it is more likely that the owner will pass it on to the animal, but whether it is human-to-animal or animal-to-human, once the new crown virus enters the animal's body, it means that it is difficult for humans to extinguish the virus in a short period of time.
There are several reasons, one is that he has many infected people who are asymptomatic, and it is difficult to identify without symptoms. Another reason is that the current vaccine will not be infected again until it is finished. Another important factor is that the virus seems to infect animals. In the United States, I have heard that many deer will be infected with the new crown, and if the virus runs into animals, it will be very troublesome. So these three factors add up, which means that the virus is basically very difficult to eliminate.
Chen Honglin said that if the new crown virus is difficult to eliminate, the next response measures are very important. If you want to enter the mode of coexistence with the virus in the future, then the key is to control the spread of the virus at a low level, including detecting a large number of spreaders, in addition to allowing some people to quickly self-test is also quite necessary.
A little more news:
The pet shop had hamsters test positive for COVID-19, and the Hong Kong Fisheries and Conservation Department seized the hamsters for humane treatment
In Hong Kong, the female staff of Little Boss, a pet store in Causeway Bay, was diagnosed with COVID-19 and a sample of hamsters taken from the market was initially positive for COVID-19. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department announced that it will conduct further virus testing for the hamsters involved in the disease, followed by humane treatment of hamsters sold in the market after the 22nd of last month.
In addition, pet shops selling hamsters should temporarily close their doors, and at the same time stop importing small mammals. The AFCD pointed out that there were two batches of imported hamsters with a high risk recently, and strongly recommended that members of the public who purchased hamsters at pet stores on or after the 22nd of last month should be handed over to the DH for humane handling.
Source: Phoenix TV Qin Yue Hong Kong report
Edit: Autumn fruit