Search the Taxacom archive · Browse by month · Mirror of the former lists.ku.edu archive (1992–2025)

[Taxacom] possible genetic susceptibility to new coronavirus?

Kenneth Kinman kinman at hotmail.com
Sun Feb 2 21:08:37 CST 2020 

Hi All,
      The only death so far outside of China from the new coronavirus (in the Philippines) was a Chinese man.  Are there many severe or deadly cases of this disease that are not Han Chinese?   I am wondering if there might be a genetic predisposition among Han Chinese to be vulnerable to SARS and/or the new coronavirus.  Unlike most Americans, the Han Chinese are relatively homogenous genetically.
      It would not be the first time Han Chinese have been shown to be more susceptible to a virus (for example, see weblink below).
                        ----------------Ken Kinman

"MDM2 SNP309T>G polymorphism increases susceptibility to hepatitis B virus©\related hepatocellular carcinoma in a northeast Han Chinese population":   https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1478-3231.2012.02787.x

________________________________
From: Tom Daley <tdaley at sndcpa.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 2, 2020 8:01 PM
To: draneym at uwgb.edu <draneym at uwgb.edu>; kinman at hotmail.com <kinman at hotmail.com>; taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Cc: DAN JANZEN (djanzen at sas.upenn.edu) <djanzen at sas.upenn.edu>; WINNIE HALLWACHS <whallwac at sas.upenn.edu>
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Coronavirus of interest...... Dan and Winnie

________________________________

From: Yewdell, Jon (NIH/NIAID) [E] <jyewdell at niaid.nih.gov>
Sent: Sunday, February 2, 2020 5:48 PM
To: Tom Daley <tdaley at sndcpa.com>
Subject: RE: [Taxacom] Coronavirus of interest...... Dan and Winnie


Two crucial numbers:

  1.  R0¡ªnumber of contacts infected per infected individual (very hard to measure this number¡­even for flu, the numbers are soft).
  2.  Case fatality rate.  It¡¯s almost certainly overestimated due to the large number of subclinical/undiagnosed cases.

It's scary.  We need to make every effort to prevent spread outside of China.



Jonathan Yewdell MD, PhD

Chief, Cellular Biology Section

Laboratory of Viral Diseases

NIAID, NIH





From: Tom Daley <tdaley at sndcpa.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 2, 2020 6:49 PM
To: Yewdell, Jon (NIH/NIAID) [E] <jyewdell at niaid.nih.gov>
Subject: Fw: [Taxacom] Coronavirus of interest...... Dan and Winnie



Begin forwarded message:



From: "Ivie, Michael via Taxacom" <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>>

Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Coronavirus

Date: February 2, 2020 at 1:26:08 PM CST

To: Richard Zander via Taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>>, "Draney, Michael" <draneym at uwgb.edu<mailto:draneym at uwgb.edu>>, Kenneth Kinman <kinman at hotmail.com<mailto:kinman at hotmail.com>>

Reply-To: "Ivie, Michael" <mivie at montana.edu<mailto:mivie at montana.edu>>



The greatest weakness exposed by the coronavirus is that the consumption of Corona beer has gone down. Our science education has serious problems

__________________________________________________
Michael A. Ivie, Ph.D., F.R.E.S.

Montana Entomology Collection
Marsh Labs, Room 50
PO Box 173145
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717
USA

mivie at montana.edu<mailto:mivie at montana.edu>


________________________________
From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>> on behalf of Richard Zander via Taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>>
Sent: Sunday, February 2, 2020 10:51 AM
To: Draney, Michael <draneym at uwgb.edu<mailto:draneym at uwgb.edu>>; Kenneth Kinman <kinman at hotmail.com<mailto:kinman at hotmail.com>>
Cc: Taxacom(taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>} <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>>
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Coronavirus

Remember this (below) exchange? There was some doubt that the Wuhan coronavirus is a major problem.

I saw, however, a calculation on the Web that goes something like this:

There are 7.53  billion people on Earth, 7,530,000,000.
Say, 20% get the coronavirus.
That¡¯s 1.506 billion or 1,506,000,000 people.
The death rate is presently almost exactly 0.02.
That's 30,012,000 deaths worldwide.

There are 329 million people in the USA, 329,000,000.
Again, say 20% get the coronavirus.
That is 65,800,000 people.
The death rate may be 0.02.
That's 1.316 million deaths, 1,316,000.

The death rate from the flu in the USA was 34,000 in 2019.
If the coronavirus is not contained (as was the case SARS and MERS), or a vaccine rapidly devised and distributed, then:
It would take 38 years for the deaths from flu to reach the projected deaths from coronavirus.
If nothing is done.

The coronavirus is definitely a far worse problem than the flu.


-------
Richard H. Zander
Missouri Botanical Garden ¨C 4344 Shaw Blvd. ¨C St. Louis ¨C Missouri ¨C 63110 ¨C USA
richard.zander at mobot.org<mailto:richard.zander at mobot.org> Ofc: +1 314 577-0276
Web sites: http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/bfna/bfnamenu.htm and http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/

-----Original Message-----
From: Taxacom [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>] On Behalf Of Draney, Michael via Taxacom
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 10:05 AM
To: Kenneth Kinman; taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Coronavirus

Hi Ken,

But SARS wasn't as easily transmitted human to human....probably why it didn't cause a pandemic.

"The death rate for influenza is only lower because of the sheer number of cases"....that's not true, but maybe you can explain what you mean by that.

It's the combination of transmissibility and virulence that makes this present virus worrisome.   I don't think it is hysterical to worry about it (although obviously you can go too far).

Best regards,

Mike D.

Michael L. Draney
Barbara Hauxhurst Cofrin Professor of Natural Sciences ............................................................................................
Chair, Department of Natural & Applied Sciences Laboratory Sciences Room 461 UW-Green Bay, 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay, WI 54311
tel: 920-465-2270  |  email: draneym at uwgb.edu<mailto:draneym at uwgb.edu>

From: Kenneth Kinman <kinman at hotmail.com<mailto:kinman at hotmail.com>>
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 10:00 AM
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>; Draney, Michael <draneym at uwgb.edu<mailto:draneym at uwgb.edu>>
Subject: Re: Coronavirus

Hi Mike,
         But the final death rate for the related coronavirus SARS was about 10% (about 800 deaths out of about 8.000 cases).  And that didn't cause a pandemic.  And the death rate for influenza is only lower because of the sheer number of cases.
                      ----------------Ken
Something Far Deadlier Than The Wuhan Virus Lurks Near You | Kaiser Health News - khn.org<http://khn.org><https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fkhn.org%2Fnews%2Fflu-far-deadlier-than-wuhan-virus%2F&data=01%7C01%7Cdraneym%40uwgb.edu%7C6d80c198ec69458e7c9908d7a3420851%7C7fc34f9d1f754f96b5b33cdcaab03aea%7C0&sdata=BVCUcnTbi7orOCNaT4Z%2BaPVZXUWWmQ2Jjb%2BHjG4VeQ4%3D&reserved=0>
There is a virus that has already sickened at least 13 million Americans this winter, hospitalizing 120,000 and killing 6,600 people. You may even know of it.
khn.org<http://khn.org>


________________________________
From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu><mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>>> on behalf of Draney, Michael via Taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu><mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>>>
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 9:32 AM
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu><mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>> <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu><mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>>>
Subject: [Taxacom] Coronavirus

HI Ken,

Well, so far not many deaths....but among the detected cases so far, the mortality rate is on the rate of 2-4%, much higher than most influenza strains.   Admittedly, many Chinese cases are surely uncounted, and many of the less severe cases don't present at hospitals.  But there's definitely pandemic possibility here.

Mike D.

Michael L. Draney

Barbara Hauxhurst Cofrin Professor of Natural Sciences

............................................................................................

Chair, Department of Natural & Applied Sciences

Laboratory Sciences Room 461

UW-Green Bay, 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay, WI 54311

tel: 920-465-2270  |  email: draneym at uwgb.edu<mailto:draneym at uwgb.edu><mailto:draneym at uwgb.edu<mailto:draneym at uwgb.edu>>


Dear All,

     The news media seems to be overly hyping the threat of the new coronovirus.  However, the threat might not be any more than the related SARS virus (which killed about 800 people worldwide).  Furthermore, the threat of the flu is far greater (well over 8,000 deaths in the U.S. so far this season and probably hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide).  Hysteria like this could needlessly divert resources from detecting something even more deadly (which could cause a real pandemic).

      Quote:  "When we think about the relative danger of this new coronavirus and influenza, there's just no comparison," William Schaffner, a vaccine expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told Kaiser Health News (KHN)<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fkhn.org%2Fnews%2Fflu-far-deadlier-than-wuhan-virus%2F&data=01%7C01%7Cdraneym%40uwgb.edu%7Cd16896b3d8804e648cc508d7a2d2cfdf%7C7fc34f9d1f754f96b5b33cdcaab03aea%7C0&sdata=zcvI%2F%2FjkpUCs4KrR%2Ba0X4WSJIxyxJlBe2sGybAO7p68%3D&reserved=0>. "Coronavirus will be a blip on the horizon in comparison."

More information about the Taxacom mailing list