Coronavirus outbreak: 12th US case of new virus from China confirmed in Wisconsin, state says
Feb. 5, 2020
This illustration shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). This virus was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via AP)
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin resident has been sickened with a new virus that originated in China and spread across the world, the first case in the state and just the 12th in the country.
Health officials said Wednesday that the patient is isolated but state health officials would not say where they are located, their age or any other details.
Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer in the Department of Health Services Bureau of Communicable Disease, said the person was never hospitalized but was evaluated and tested at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison.
Other U.S. cases were reported in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington and Arizona.
More evacuees from China have arrived in the United States amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
On Wednesday, two planes carrying hundreds of American evacuees from China arrived at a military base in California.
The evacuees are the second wave of Americans rushed out of Wuhan, China, the epicenter of an outbreak that has infected more than 24,500 people globally and killed more than 490.
The evacuees will be screened by Center for Disease Control medical personnel upon arrival and some will be moved to a quarantine site on the base, where they will reside for a federally mandated 14-day quarantine in the base. More will fly to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego for quarantine.
Symptoms of the virus include fever, cough and difficulty breathing, which could appear between two to 14 days after someone is exposed to the virus. Health officials said symptoms have ranged from a mild illness, such as a common cold, to severe pneumonia.
Health officials recommend preventing the spread of the virus by washing your hands frequently and staying at home when you’re sick.
As of February 2, 2020, mainland China reported 17,187 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia (NCIP), including 362 deaths. The first case was reported in December 2019. Since then, cases have also been reported in at least 23 other countries, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, France and Africa
Clinical manifestations of NCIP are consistent with viral pneumonia
The hysteria being drummed up follows a well-worn pattern where the population is kept in a state of fear about microbes so that drug companies can come to the rescue with yet another expensive (and potentially mandatory) drug or vaccine
In January 2018, China’s first biosecurity level 4 lab designed for the study of the world’s most dangerous pathogens opened its doors in Wuhan City, the epicenter of the current NCIP outbreak
October 18, 2019, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the World Economic Forum and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored a pandemic preparedness exercise in New York, practicing for the emergence of a new fictional viral illness dubbed “coronavirus acute pulmonary syndrome”
Chances are you’ve heard the news about a new and potentially lethal coronavirus.1 Ground zero is Wuhan City, Hubei Province in China. As of February 2, 2020, mainland China reported2 a total of 17,187 confirmed cases, including 2,110 severe cases and 362 deaths (including a retired doctor working with coronavirus patients in Wuhan3).
The first case was reported in Wuhan on December 21, 2019. According to ProMED International Society for Infectious Diseases:4
“Patients’ clinical manifestations were consistent with viral pneumonia. Most patients had severe and nonproductive cough following illness onset, some had dyspnea, and almost all had normal or decreased leukocyte counts and radiographic evidence of pneumonia.
Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market has western and eastern sections, and 15 environmental specimens collected in the western section were positive for 2019-nCoV virus through RT-PCR testing and genetic sequencing analysis. Despite extensive searching, no animal from the market has thus far been identified as a possible source of infection.”
On January 21, 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first U.S. case5 — a patient in Washington state who had recently visited Wuhan, China. A second case, in Illinois, was confirmed January 24, 2020.6 This patient had also recently returned from a visit to Wuhan. As of February 2, 2020, there were 11 confirmed cases in the U.S.7
Since then cases have also been reported in at least 23 other countries,8 including Canada, Australia,9 Japan, Thailand, South Korea,10 France,11 Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Saudi Arabia12 and Africa. Globally, there were 14, 557 confirmed cases and one death as of February 2, 2020.13
January 22, 2020, China shut down all transport networks in and out of Wuhan — a city with a population of 11 million — in an effort to contain the spread of the disease.14
Elderly Appear Particularly Vulnerable
So far, most of those who have died have been elderly. As reported by the Foreign Policy Journal:15
“One puzzling aspect so far is the thankful lack of child victims. Usually, children, with less developed immune systems than adults, come down with one illness after another …
Yet few children have yet been reported with coronavirus symptoms. That does not mean that no children have been infected. A similar pattern of benign disease in children, with increasing severity and mortality with age, was seen in SARS and MERS.
SARS had a mortality rate averaging 10 percent. Yet no children, and just 1 percent of youths under 24, died, while those older than 50 had a 65 percent risk of dying. Is being an adult a risk factor per se? If so, what is it about childhood that confers protection?”
The Foreign Policy Journal goes on to suggest children may be protected by other vaccines given during childhood, such as the measles and rubella vaccines. It even goes so far as to wonder whether innate immunity against the coronavirus might be boosted in adults by giving them the measles vaccine.
If you ask me, that would be a significant long-shot. Vaccines have risks, so getting a vaccine on the remote chance that it might confer protection against a completely different infection than what it’s designed for seems inappropriate in the extreme. As noted in the Washington Examiner:16
“Sending out coronavirus vaccines won’t make sense unless the spread gets worse … The bare facts, at least as far as anyone knows them yet, are that a global rollout of a coronavirus vaccine would kill some 7,000 people or so.
Of course, we’re never going to get everyone vaccinated. And I’m guessing here, but that average death rate from vaccination, for all things, is one in a million.
Yes, that’s including those influenza shots the old folks are abjured to get every winter — we know that some will die because of them. That we know this is exactly why we have the vaccine compensation program …
The … trade-off in this situation is how many we kill by giving them the vaccine, versus how many die without it? The coronavirus is simply not widespread enough yet to take the risk of jabbing everyone.”
Source of Novel Coronavirus Remains Unknown
Like other coronaviruses, such as the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), this new coronavirus (dubbed 2019-nCoV17), is suspected of being zoonotic, meaning it can be transmitted between animals and humans.
The disease itself has been named “novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia” or NECIP.18 As reported by CNN:19
“Both SARS and MERS are classified as zoonotic viral diseases, meaning the first patients who were infected acquired these viruses directly from animals.
This was possible because while in the animal host, the virus had acquired a series of genetic mutations that allowed it to infect and multiply inside humans. Now these viruses can be transmitted from person to person …
In the case of this 2019 coronavirus outbreak, reports state that most of the first group of patients hospitalized were workers or customers at a local seafood wholesale market which also sold processed meats and live consumable animals including poultry, donkeys, sheep, pigs, camels, foxes, badgers, bamboo rats, hedgehogs and reptiles.”
However, while media have been quick to blame the outbreak on snakes20 and bat soup,21 as of January 22, none of the animals sold at the Wuhan Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market had been found to carry the virus.22
Meanwhile, a number of other reports cast a disturbing light on the outbreak, raising questions about biohazard safety at laboratories working with dangerous pathogens.
Season of Fear and National Budgeting Go Hand in Hand
Whatever the source, the hysteria being drummed up follows a now well-worn pattern where the population is kept in a perpetual state of anxiety and fear about microbes so that drug companies (aided by federal health officials) can come to the rescue with yet another expensive (and potentially mandatory) drug or vaccine.
Back in 2005, headlines warned the U.S. was facing a cataclysmic extermination event with a calculated 2 million Americans succumbing to the bird flu; the best-case scenario had a calculated death toll of 200,000. The same scare tactics were used during the 2009 swine flu outbreak.
Both pandemics turned out to be grossly exaggerated threats, but that didn’t result in a more conservative, cool-headed approach to subsequent outbreaks. If anything, efforts to drum up fear and hysteria have only escalated.
In 2014, we were told Ebola might overtake the U.S. and then it was pertussis outbreaks.23 In January 2015, it was measles in Disneyland. In January 2016, it was zika, followed by more news about pertussis outbreaks.24 In 2017 and 2018 it was influenza,25 then back to measles again in 2019.26 Now we have coronavirus.
January and February appear to be a favorite time to launch a global disease scare with the dutiful assistance of corporatized media. It’s convenient, seeing how usually by the first Monday in February every year (Feb. 3, 2020), the president sends the U.S. Congress the administration’s budget requesting funds to be allocated to federal agencies for the next fiscal year’s budget (Oct. 1, 2020 – Sept. 30, 2021).27
Each time there’s a public health scare, the Pharma and public health lobby is able to vie for a larger slice of taxpayer money to pay for drug and vaccine development.28
January 23, 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, announced a coronavirus vaccine is in the pipeline, with human trials set to start in about three months.29 Stock prices for makers of coronavirus vaccines experienced an immediate upswing30,31 in response to media reports of impending doom.
Moratorium on SARS/MERS Experiments Lifted in 2017
As mentioned, a number of reports raise questions about the source of the 2019-nCoV. For starters, a 2014 NPR article32 was rather prophetic. It discusses the October 2014 U.S. moratorium on experiments on coronaviruses like SARS and MERS, as well as influenza virus, that might make the viruses more pathogenic and/or easy to spread among humans.
The ban came on the heels of “high-profile lab mishaps” at the CDC and “extremely controversial flu experiments” in which the bird flu virus was engineered to become more lethal and contagious between ferrets. The goal was to see if it could mutate and become more lethal and contagious between humans, causing future pandemics.
However, for the past decade there have been red flags raised in the scientific community about biosecurity breaches in high containment biological labs in the U.S. and globally.33 There were legitimate fears that a lab-created superflu pathogen might escape the confines of biosecurity labs where researchers are conducting experiments. It’s a reasonable fear, certainly, considering that there have been many safety breaches at biolabs in the U.S. and other countries.34,35,36,37
The federal moratorium on lethal virus experiments in the U.S. was lifted at the end of December 2017,38 even though researchers announced in 2015 they had created a lab-created hybrid coronavirus similar to that of SARS that was capable of infecting both human airway cells and mice.
The NIH had allowed the controversial research to proceed because it had begun before the moratorium was put in place — a decision criticized by Simon Wain-Hobson, a virologist at Pasteur Institute in Paris, who pointed out that “If the [new] virus escaped, nobody could predict the trajectory.”39
Others, such as Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist and biodefence expert at Rutgers University, agreed, saying “The only impact of this work is the creation, in a lab, of a new, non-natural risk.”40
Wuhan Is Home to Lab Studying World’s Deadliest Pathogens
In January 2018, China’s first maximum security virology laboratory (biosecurity level 4) designed for the study of the world’s most dangerous pathogens opened its doors — in Wuhan.41,42Is it pure coincidence that Wuhan City is now the epicenter of this novel coronavirus infection?
The year before, Tim Trevan, a Maryland biosafety consultant, expressed concern about viral threats potentially escaping the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory,43 which happens to be located just 20 miles from the Wuhan market identified as ground zero for the current NCIP outbreak.44 As reported by the Daily Mail:45
“The Wuhan lab is also equipped for animal research,” and “Regulations for animal research — especially that conducted on primates — are much looser in China than in the U.S. and other Western countries … But that was also cause for concern for Trevan.
Studying the behavior of a virus like 209-nCoV and developing treatments or vaccines for it requires infecting these research monkeys, an important step before human testing.
Monkeys are unpredictable though, warned [Rutgers University microbiologist Dr. Richard] Ebright. ‘They can run, they can scratch they can bite,’ he said, and the viruses they carry would go where their feet, nails and teeth do.'”
Coronavirus Outbreak Simulation Took Place in October 2019
Equally curious is the fact that Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the World Economic Forum and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored a novel coronavirus pandemic preparedness exercise October 18, 2019, in New York called “Event 201.”46 The simulation predicted a global death toll of 65 million people within a span of 18 months.47 As reported by Forbes December 12, 2019:48
“The experts ran through a carefully designed, detailed simulation of a new (fictional) viral illness called CAPS or coronavirus acute pulmonary syndrome. This was modeled after previous epidemics like SARS and MERS.”
Sounds exactly like NCIP, doesn’t it? Yet the new coronavirus responsible for NCIP had not yet been identified at the time of the simulation, and the first case wasn’t reported until two months later.
Forbes also refers to the fictional pandemic as “Disease X” — the same designation used by The Telegraph in its January 24, 2020, video report, “Could This Coronavirus be Disease X?”49 which suggests that media outlets were briefed and there was coordination ahead of time with regard to use of certain keywords and catchphrases in news reports and opinion articles.
Johns Hopkins University (JHU) is the biggest recipient of research grants from federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and Department of Defense and has received millions of dollars in research grants from the Gates Foundation.50 In 2016, Johns Hopkins spent more than $2 billion on research projects, leading all U.S. universities in research spending for the 38th year in a row.51
If research funded by federal agencies, such as the DOD or HHS is classified as being performed “in the interest of national security,” it is exempt from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.52
Research conducted under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is completely shielded from FOIA requests by the public.53 Additionally, agencies may deny FOIA requests and withhold information if government officials conclude that shielding it from public view “protects trade secrets and commercial or financial information which could harm the competitive posture or business interests of a company.”54
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that its mission is “to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S.”55 Clearly, it will be difficult to obtain information about government-funded biomedical research on microbes like coronavirus conducted at major universities or by pharmaceutical corporations in biohazard labs.
How likely is it, then, that the coronavirus outbreak making people so sick today “suddenly” emerged simply because people ate bats and snakes in a Wuhan market? It looks more like a biosecurity accident but, until more is known, inevitably there will be questions than answers about whether this latest global public health emergency is a more ambitious tactical “sand table exercise,” echoing unanswered questions about the 2009 swine flu pandemic fiasco.
This time, there could be a lot more bodies left on the field, although some statisticians conducting benefit cost analyses may consider 65 million casualties in a global human population of 7.8 billion people56 to be relatively small when advancing medical research conducted in the name of “the greater good.”
Signs and Symptoms of NCIP
According to the WHO, signs and symptoms of NCIP in its initial stages include:57
Fever
Fatigue
Sore throat
Shortness of breath
Dry cough
In more severe cases, the infection can lead to pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome and kidney failure.
Care Advice
WHO’s “rapid advice note,” detailing how to care for patients presenting mild symptoms of NCIP in the home can be downloaded here. Recommendations include:
Placing the patient in a well-ventilated room
Limiting the number of caretakers. Ideally, designate a healthy younger person who has no underlying risk factors to care for the patient (older people appear to be more susceptible to severe disease)
Keeping other household members in a different room, or keeping a distance of at least 1 meter (3.2 feet) from the patient
Limiting the movement of the patient and minimizing shared space. Make sure shared spaces such as kitchen and bathroom are well-ventilated by keeping the windows open
Instructions on protective gear, such as protective masks and gloves, and the safe handling and disposal of them are also detailed, as are special instructions for how to maintain good hygiene to prevent the spread of the virus throughout the home.
General recommendations for how to reduce your risk of contracting an infection at home, work or when traveling can be found on WHO’s Novel Coronavirus Advice for the Public page.58
A key recommendation — which applies to all infections, both bacterial and viral — is to frequently wash your hands with soap and water. Also, be sure to cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, and avoid close contact with anyone exhibiting symptoms of cold or influenza.
According to Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases and global health at the Centre of Tropical Medicine and Global Health at the University of Oxford, NCIP has the hallmark signs of “classic viral pneumonia,” and since there are currently no antivirals available for NCIP, the focus of care is to support the lungs and other organs until the patient recovers.59
During this time, I recommend boosting your immune system with regular sensibly controlled sun exposure and, when unable to do that, taking oral vitamin D3. Adding liposomal vitamin C and quercetin supplements can also be helpful.
All three help protect against infections in general, and quercetin may offer benefits as a treatment for SARS coronavirus infections.60 According to a study61 in the Journal of Virology, “quercetin offers great promise as a potential drug in the clinical treatment of SARS.” Resveratrol is another antioxidant that could be useful. It’s been shown to inhibit MERS-CoV infection, at least in vitro.62
There are some events that happen, which are not in our control, but one thing we can do is learn how to better respond to bad news that causes stress, which can depress the immune system.
Living in a constant state of anxiety and fear is not healthy. Finding ways to lower stress through regular exercise, spending time in nature, practicing meditation and getting plenty of sleep on a daily basis all help optimize immune function and decrease the effects of stress that are all too often a part of our lives today.
Dr. Francis Boyle discusses the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China and the Biosafety Level 4 laboratory (BSL-4) from which he believes the infectious disease escaped. He believes the virus is potentially lethal and an offensive biological warfare weapon or dual-use biowarfare weapons agent genetically modified with gain of function properties, which is why the Chinese government originally tried to cover it up and is now taking drastic measures to contain it. The Wuhan BSL-4 lab is also a specially designated World Health Organization (WHO) research lab and Dr. Boyle contends that the WHO knows full well what is occurring.
Francis Boyle is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He received an AB (1971) in Political Science from the University of Chicago, then a JD degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, and AM and PhD degrees in Political Science from Harvard University. He practiced tax and international tax with Bingham, Dana & Gould. Professor Boyle serves as counsel to Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the Provisional Government of the Palestinian Authority. He also represents two associations of citizens within Bosnia and was involved in developing the indictment against Slobodan Milosević for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Over his career, he has represented national and international bodies including the Blackfoot Nation (Canada), the Nation of Hawaii, and the Lakota Nation, as well as numerous individual death penalty and human rights cases. He has advised numerous international bodies in the areas of human rights, war crimes and genocide, nuclear policy, and bio-warfare. From 1991-92, he served as Legal Advisor to the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Peace Negotiations. Professor Boyle served on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International, as a consultant to the American Friends Service Committee, and on the Advisory Board for the Council for Responsible Genetics. He drafted the U.S. domestic implementing legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, that was approved unanimously by both Houses of the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director, Dr Robert Redfield announced today the first person-to-person novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the United States.
Image/Dr. Fred Murphy & Sylvia Whitfield/CDC
The case, from Chicago, Illinois, is the husband of the first novel coronavirus case in the state. The patient did not travel to Wuhan, China. He is currently in stable condition.
This is the sixth confirmed case in the US.
The Illinois Department of Health reports aggressively investigating contacts.
THE AVAILABLE EVIDENCE MOST STRONGLY SUPPORTS THAT THE 2019-NCOV VIRUS IS A VACCINE STRAIN OF CORONAVIRUS EITHER ACCIDENTALLY RELEASED FROM A LABORATORY ACCIDENT, PERHAPS A LABORATORY RESEARCHER BECOMING INFECTED WITH THE VIRUS WHILE CONDUCTING ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS, OR THE CHINESE WERE PERFORMING CLINICAL STUDIES OF A CORONAVIRUS VACCINE IN HUMANS.
IF THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN CONDUCTING HUMAN TRIALS AGAINST SARS, MERS, OR OTHER CORONAVIRUSES USING RECOMBINED VIRUSES, THEY MAY HAVE MADE THEIR CITIZENS FAR MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO ACUTE RESPIRATORY DISTRESS SYNDROME UPON INFECTION WITH 2019-NCOV CORONAVIRUS.
The implications are clear: if China sensitized their population via a SARS vaccine, and this escaped from a lab, the rest of world has a serious humanitarian urgency to help China, but may not expect as serious an epidemic as might otherwise be expected.
In the worst-case scenario, if the vaccination strain is more highly contagious and lethal, 2019-nCoV could become the worst example of vaccine-derived contagious disease in human history.
RECOMBINATION technology has been in use in molecular virology since the 1980’s. The structure of the 2019-NCoV virus genome provides a very strong clue on the likely origin of the virus.
Unlike other related coronaviruses, the 2019-nCoV virus has a unique sequence about 1,378 bp (nucleotide base pairs) long that is not found in related coronaviruses.
Looking at the phylogenetic tree recently published derived using all the full genome sequence, we see the 2019-nCoV virus does not have clear monophyletic support given the bootstrap value of 75 (Fig 1).
There is no doubt that there is a novel sequence in 2019-nCoV; we confirmed this via sequence alignment. Here’s the DOT plot:
The gap in the line shows a lack of sequence homology beween the most similar bat coronavirus and 2019-nCoV. The inserted sequence, which should not be there is here:
A database search by the first team to study and publish the whole genome sequence for the origins of the inserted sequence turned up no hits (Ji et al., 2020). They conducted a codon-bias analysis which led them to speculate that perhaps there had been a recombination event between a coronavirus in snakes with a coronavirus from bats (Ji et al., 2020). [Full Text]
This led to criticism on Wired(3) with quote dismissing the snake origin hypothesis as lacking evidence. There is, however, clear evidence that the novel sequence, which I will refer to henceforth as INS1378, is from a laboratory-induced recombination event. Specifically,
(1) The sequence similarity to other coronavirus sequences is lower to its most similar sequences in any coronavirus than the rest of the genome (IPAK finding)
(2) The high sequence similarity of INS1378 to a SARS spike protein (2; IPAK Confirmed).
(3) We also found significant sequence similarity of INS1378 to a pShuttle-SN vector that was in use in the 1980’s in China to create a more immunogenic coronavirus (IPAK finding, details below, Option 4).
Here, I review four Option on the origins of the 2019-nCoV Coronavirus isolated from human patients from Wuhan, China.
Option 1. Natural coronavirus related to bat coronaviruses, Not a Recombined Virus.
Evidence for: Phylogenetic clustering with Bat coronaviruses.
Evidence against: Low bootstrap support (N=75) and presence of a INS1378.
Status: Falsified hypothesis.
Test: Survey coronviruses in animals in the wild.
Option 2. A recombined virus that naturally picked up a SARS-like spike protein in it N-terminus (3′ end) of the viral genome.
Evidence for: The INS1378 codon bias similar to snakes ($)
Evidence against: Insufficient match in database search to other known CoV spike proteins (Ji et al., 2020)
Status: Speculative hypothesis. Unlikely.
Test: Find an isolate that matches 2019-nCoV in the wild and reproducibly independently isolate the virus from a wild animal (a match will confirm).
Option 3. A recombined virus made in a laboratory for the purpose of creating a bioweapon.
Both China and the US hinted at the other side’s potential liability in playing a role in bringing about a novel coronavirus in the lab specifically for the purpose of being used as a bioweapon. To add to the intrigue, a Chinese Scientist was released from BSL-4 laboratory in Manitoba, Canada for violating protocols, allegedly sending samples of deadly viruses to mainland China.
On January 26, The Washington Times published this article citing an Israeli defense expert claiming that China has likely proceeded with a bioweapons program, but ending the article with a quote to London’s Daily Mail from a US scientist Rutgers University microbiologist Richard Ebright that “at this point there’s no reason to harbor suspicions” that the lab may be linked to the virus outbreak.
The same person was quoted in a Feb 2017 Nature article stating that SARS had escaped the Wuhan facility “multiple times”.
Evidence for: Presence of BSL-4 laboratory 20 miles from the Wuhan seafood marketEvidence against: Published opinion.Status: Rumor. But see below.
Option 4. A recombined virus made in a laboratory for the purpose of creating a vaccine.
IPAK researchers found a sequence similarity between a pShuttle-SN recombination vector sequence and INS1378. Here’s a shot of the alignment and the DOT Plot.
The pShuttle-SN vector was among many described in a 1998 paper by Bert Vogelstein et al; here is a company where one can purchase the pShuttle-SN vector:
It turns out that the sequence from pShuttle is most closely related to the Spike protein from SARS coronavirus.
SARS vaccine of adenovirus vector and preparation method, application of coronavirus S gene
Abstract(translated from Chinese)
The present invention belongs to the field of genetic engineering, particularly relates to adenoviral vector SARS vaccines, their preparation and coronavirus S genes in SARS (SARS) on vaccines for the prophylaxis. By means of biological engineering, the coronavirus S gene in combination with deficient recombinant adenovirus, the protective immunogen protein or polypeptide expressed therein, through expansion culture, purification, and formulation to prepare a mucosal immunogenicity can cause the gene vaccine, respiratory mucosal immune response induced by the body to produce antibodies against the virus infection. Specific conditions of the present invention, compared with conventional inactivated virus particle vaccine, safe, easy to use, without limitation intramuscular, have broad clinical applications.
In 2015, The US called for an end to research creating new viruses in the lab that have increased threat (higher transmissibility, higher pathogenicity, higher lethalithy) (3)
The very researchers conducting studies on SARS vaccines have cautioned repeatedly against human trials;
“An early concern for application of a SARS-CoV vaccine was the experience with other coronavirus infections which induced enhanced disease and immunopathology in animals when challenged with infectious virus [31], a concern reinforced by the report that animals given an alum adjuvanted SARS vaccine and subsequently challenged with SARS-CoV exhibited an immunopathologic lung reaction reminiscent of that described for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants and in animal models given RSV vaccine and challenged naturally (infants) or artificially (animals) with RSV [32], [33]. We and others described a similar immunopathologic reaction in mice vaccinated with a SARS-CoV vaccine and subsequently challenged with SARS-CoV [18], [20], [21], [28]. It has been proposed that the nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV is the antigen to which the immunopathologic reaction is directed [18], [21]. Thus, concern for proceeding to humans with candidate SARS-CoV vaccines emerged from these various observations.” – Tseng et al.,
The disease progression in of 2019-nCoV is consistent with those seen in animals and humans vaccinated against SARS and then challenged with re-infection. Thus, the hypothesis that 2019-nCoV is an experimental vaccine type must be seriously considered.
Evidence for: Sequence homology between INS1378 to pShuttle Coronavirus vaccine; presence of a SARS-like Spike protein in bat coronavirus, otherwise most similar to bat coronaviruses; low bootstrap value.
Evidence against: Low sequence homology (but highly signifiant). NB these viruses are RNA viruses and they can evolve quickly, even under laboratory conditions.
Status: Most likely.
Test: Determine the nucleotide sequence all laboratory types of coronavirus being studied in China (a match will confirm). Find an isolate that matches 2019-nCoV in the wild and reproducibly independently isolate the virus from a wild animal (a match will falsify).
The available evidence most strongly supports that the 2019-NCoV virus is a vaccine strain of coronavirus either accidentally released from a laboratory accident, perhaps a laboratory researcher becoming infected with the virus while conducting animal experiments, or the Chinese were performing clinical studies of a Coronavirus vaccine in humans.
Dr. Dale Brown brought to my attention the studies that have reported serious immunopathology in animals – rats, ferrets, and monkeys – in which animals vaccinated against coronoviruses tended to have extremely high rates of respiratory failure upon subsequent exposure in the study when challenged with the wild-type coronavirus.
“Caton in proceeding to application of a SARS-CoV vaccine in humans is indicated”- Te et al., 2012 [Full Text] Yasui et al., (2012) reported severe pneumonia in mice who were vaccinated against SARS who were subsequently infected with SARS.
Another study of a double-inactived SARS vaccine found increased eosinophilic proinflammatory responses in vaccinated mice, especially older mice, writing:
“Importantly, aged animals displayed increased eosinophilic immune pathology in the lungs and were not protected against significant virus replication.”
If the Chinese government has been conducting human trials against SARS, MERS, or other coronaviruses using recombined viruses, they may have made their citizens far more susceptible to acute respiratory distress syndrome upon infection with 2019-nCoV coronavirus.
The implications are clear: if China sensitized their population via a SARS vaccine, and this escaped from a lab, the rest of world has a serious humanitarian urgency to help China, but may not expect as serious an epidemic as might otherwise be expected.
In the worst-case scenario, if the vaccination strain is more highly contagious and lethal, 2019-nCoV could become the worst example of vaccine-derived contagious disease in human history. With an uncharacteristic aysmptomatic prodromal period of 5-7 days, individuals returning from China to other countries must be forthright and cooperative in their now-prescribed 2-week quarantine.
Tseng et al., 2012. Double-Inactivated Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Vaccine Provides Incomplete Protection in Mice and Induces Increased Eosinophilic Proinflammatory Pulmonary Response Upon Challenge https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3209347/
Te et al., 2012. Immunization with SARS coronavirus vaccines leads to pulmonary immunopathology on challenge with the SARS virus. PLoS One 7(4) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22536382
JUSTIN BIEBER BATTLING LYME DISEASE …Reveals Chronic Mono Too
1/8/2020
3:50 PM PT — Hailey Bieber just chimed in too … revealing GiGi, Bella and Yolanda Hadid played a big role in helping Justin understand Lyme and how to fight it. Yolanda, Bella and her brother Anwar all have the disease.
As for the bullies coming after Justin, Hailey says,
“Please do your research and listen to the stories of people who have suffered with it for years. Making fun of and belittling a disease you don’t understand is never the way, all it takes is educating yourself.”
12:37 PM PT — Justin just reacted to our story, opening up about his Lyme diagnosis and sharing he’s also suffering from a serious case of chronic mono … which he says affected his skin, brain function and overall health. The Biebs says he’ll reveal more in his docuseries….he will reveal in his documentary why so many people thought he was battling deep depression … fact is, he was, but it was the result of contracting Lyme disease.
(See link for article. 10 part Youtube original Documentary comes out Jan. 27 and streams weekly)
Fans have long known about Justin Bieber‘s ongoing struggle with mental health, but according to reports, another illness has been taking a toll as well.
According to TMZ, an upcoming 10-part docu-series on YouTube Originals called Justin Bieber: Seasons reveals that he has been quietly suffering from Lyme disease — an infectious disease spread by ticks.
At the time I was 55 years-old so there is absolutely no way this infection was recent; it is a reactivated latent viral infection allowed to surface through immunosuppression.
Late stage chronic Lyme disease causes immunosuppression making this disease far more serious than a simple nuisance disease (Hard to catch and easily treated) as promoted by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the defendants of the Lisa Torrey vs IDSA lawsuit.
Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus Infection causes debilitating fatigue [1] and can lead to cancer and in my case, Lymphoma. (Cancer of the immune system)
Mainstream medicine STILL hasn’t connected these dots, but I assure you, there are many, many patients out there suffering with these exact same issues that have underlying tick-borne illnesses.
The gap in the line shows a lack of sequence homology beween the most similar bat coronavirus and 2019-nCoV. The inserted sequence, which should not be there is here:
Madison Area Lyme Support Group 