MyVoice: Views of our readers 15th july 2020

Coronavirus has long history

Though the whole world is in the grip of fear with the uncontainable spread of coronavirus, the killer microbe was not born in recent times. It was first discovered in the 1930s when an acute respiratory infection of domesticated chickens was shown to be caused by infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). The infection of newborn chicks was characterised by gasping and listlessness. The chicks' mortality rate was 40–90%. Six years later, scientists successfully isolated and cultivated the infectious bronchitis virus which caused the disease. In the 1940s, two more animal coronaviruses, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) and transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), were isolated. It was not realised at the time that these three different viruses were related. Human coronaviruses were discovered in the 1960s. They were isolated using two different methods in the United Kingdom and the United States. The virus was not able to be cultivated using standard techniques which had successfully cultivated rhinoviruses, adenoviruses and other known common cold viruses. The isolated virus when intranasally inoculated into volunteers caused a cold and was inactivated by ether which indicated it had a lipid envelope. Two novel strains B814 and 229E were subsequently imaged by electron microscopy in 1967 by Scottish virologist June Almeida at St. Thomas Hospital in London. A research group at the National Institute of Health the same year was able to isolate another member of this new group of viruses using organ culture and named the virus strain OC43 (OC for organ culture). The IBV-like novel cold viruses were soon shown to be also morphologically related to the mouse hepatitis virus. This new group of IBV-like viruses came to be known as coronaviruses after their distinctive morphological appearance. Human coronavirus 229E and human coronavirus OC43 continued to be studied in subsequent decades. The coronavirus strain B814 was lost. It is not known which present human coronavirus it was. Other human coronaviruses have since been identified, including SARS-CoV in 2003, HCoV NL63 in 2004, HCoV HKU1 in 2005, MERS-CoV in 2012, and SARS-CoV-2 in 2019. There have also been a large number of animal coronaviruses identified since the 1960s.

Vasavi Raju Barde, Nagpur, Maharashtra

We need to follow VP's sagely advice

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned on Monday that "If the basics aren't followed, there is only one way this pandemic is going to go. It's going to get worse and worse and worse". To this must be added the sagely advice of our Vice President nicely summarised in the editorial of The Hans India (Jul 14). There is a plethora of articles on the impact of Covid-19 world over in various ways and the need to change mind sets. A fundamental change at all levels and across all sections, political, religious, ideological etc., is the most called for. Will people rise?

R Umamaheswara Rao, Hyderabad

Let's celebrate festivals at home

The Madhya Pradesh government banned the public celebration of Ganpati and Navratri for this year, as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has said that to prevent the spread of corona infection, idols must be installed at home and offered prayers. Permission will not be granted to install idols in public places and celebrate festivals. This good move will help our fight against the pandemic. The need of the hour is that people celebrate upcoming festivals at home and follow all preventive measures.

After this, we will be able to secure more lives from Covid-19.

Amit Singh Kushwaha, Satna, M P