How did the global coronavirus outbreak start? Answers on the origins of the virus

More than 300,000 people across the globe have now come down with the COVID-19 virus, but how did the outbreak get started? And what are coronaviruses?

The virus, first reported in China, has swept across Asia and now has sparked new outbreaks in Europe and the United States.

More than 1.2 million cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed worldwide with more than 65,000 deaths as of April 5, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 312,000 confirmed cases with more than 8,500 deaths.

The World Health Organization has labeled the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. The United States has declared a national emergency.

Here are the facts on how the latest coronavirus outbreak began.

What are coronaviruses?

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses responsible for illnesses ranging from the common cold to SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, and MERS, or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, the World Health Organization says.

The virus gets its name from the “crown-like spikes” on its surface, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say.

Frequently found in humans, coronaviruses also are common in animals, such as camels, cattle, cats and bats, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports. In rare cases, a virus crosses over from animals to humans and then spreads from person to person.

Are coronaviruses related to the flu virus?

Both cause similar infectious respiratory diseases, but they’re entirely different viruses, Johns Hopkins Medicine says. That’s why the flu vaccine won’t protect you from coronavirus.

Coronavirus and influenza have the same symptoms: Fever, cough, body aches, fatigue and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea, the university says. Both can be either mild or severe, and both can lead to pneumonia, which can be fatal.

And neither can be treated by antibiotics, which only work on illnesses caused by bacteria, Johns Hopkins Medicine says.

Nevertheless, coronavirus and the flu are distinct illnesses caused by different viruses. Another difference may be that COVID-19 spreads through tiny airborne droplets that remain active for some time, though scientists aren’t yet sure, according to the university.

Then there’s the death toll. Coronavirus has caused more than 31,000 deaths worldwide so far, while the flu kills up to 646,000 people a year worldwide, Johns Hopkins Medicine says.

But WHO says coronavirus so far has a higher global death rate at 3.4 percent than the flu, which has a death rate of less than 1 percent, Fox News reported.

What is COVID-19?

COVID-19 is the official name for the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus, WHO says. The virus and disease were not previously known.

The name comes from the words Coronavirus Disease 2019, Vox reported. But it took some work to come up with it.

“We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual, or a group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease,” said WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, according to the publication.

The virus itself is officially named SARS-CoV-2 because of its similarity to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, the CDC says.

Scientists had previously been calling it the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, since it was a new, or novel, strain of the virus discovered in 2019.

When was the first coronavirus case reported?

The first human cases were reported in December 2019, the Cleveland Clinic reports.

Where did the infection originate?

People first began coming down with COVID-19 in the Wuhan region of central China, the World Health Organization reports.

Wuhan is the capital of the Hubei province along the Yangtze and Han rivers..

More than 80,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported in mainland China and more than 3,200 people have died — most in Hubei province, Johns Hopkins University reports.

Did coronavirus come from eating bats?

Like many viruses, the COVID-19 virus probably passed from animals to humans in some way, although it hasn’t yet been scientifically shown, NBC News reports.

Public health officials say the outbreak may have first spread at an outdoor wet market, or live animal market, where dozens of workers came down sick in Wuhan, according to the network.

And the virus does show some similarities to coronaviruses carried by horseshoe bats, said Ian Jones, a professor of virology at the University of Reading in England, NBC News reported.

Those similarities are one reason researchers have debunked rumors that the virus originated from biological warfare experiments in China, according to the network. But they still don’t have all the answers.

“What is not clear is the steps that moved the virus out of the bat, into some intermediate source or sources, and then finally into man,” Jones said, NBC News reported.

Once the virus crossed over from animals to humans, it began spreading among people with no contact with the animal markets, suggesting person-to-person transfer, the CDC says.

Does the origin of the virus involve pangolins?

Pangolins are scaly anteaters, the World Wildlife Fund says. While they are sometimes mistaken for reptiles, they are actually mammals. Pangolins are one of the most-trafficked animals in the world, particularly in Africa and Asia, for their meat, which is considered a delicacy.

Some scientists in China have suggested that pangolins may have been an intermediate host for the COVID-19 virus as it passed from bats to humans, Nature reports. It’s important to figure out exactly how the human version of the virus arose in order to help prevent future outbreaks.

Chinese geneticists announced in February they had found a coronavirus in pangolins that closely matched the new COVID-19 virus, suggesting a connection, but more work remains to be done, the publication reported.

How does the infection spread?

Like many viruses, the COVID-19 virus spreads chiefly by respiratory droplets, created when people sneeze, cough, talk or blow their noses, The Scientist reports.

Other people within 6 to 8 feet inhale the droplets, which contain the virus, spreading the infection, according to the publication.

The virus also may spread when someone touches a surface infected by the droplets, then touches their mouth or face, The Scientist reports. But researchers are still working to find out how long the virus can survive outside the body.

It’s also possible the virus could survive in tinier airborne droplets, which can spread farther than respiratory droplets, Johns Hopkins Medicine says.

How can you protect yourself against coronavirus?

There’s no vaccine for the COVID-19 virus, and experts say it may be months before one is ready for mass production.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest avoiding close contact with people who are sick, avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, staying home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.

The agency also advises washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.

The CDC does not advise that healthy people wear face masks, but says they should be worn by coronavirus patients to help avoid spreading the illness.

This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 2:40 PM with the headline "How did the global coronavirus outbreak start? Answers on the origins of the virus."