A team of scientists at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) in Melbourne, Australia, has successfully grown the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV from a patient sample.
The 2019-nCoV coronavirus in cell culture. Image credit: Julian Druce, Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Doherty Institute.
The 2019-nCoV coronavirus was grown from a patient sample that arrived at the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory at the Doherty Institute on January 24, 2020.
“This was a significant breakthrough as it will allow accurate investigation and diagnosis of the 2019-nCoV virus globally,” said Dr. Julian Druce, a researcher at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Virus Identification Laboratory Head at the Doherty Institute, a joint venture between the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
“Chinese officials released the genome sequence of this novel coronavirus, which is helpful for diagnosis, however, having the real virus means we now have the ability to actually validate and verify all test methods, and compare their sensitivities and specificities — it will be a game changer for diagnosis.”
“The virus will be used as positive control material for the Australian network of public health laboratories, and also shipped to expert laboratories working closely with the World Health Organization in Europe.”
“Possession of a virus isolate extended what could be achieved with molecular technology in the fight against this virus,” said Dr. Mike Catton, Deputy Director of the Doherty Institute and Director of the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory at the Doherty Institute.
The lab-grown 2019-nCoV coronavirus is expected to be used to generate an antibody test, which will allow detection of the virus in patients who haven’t displayed symptoms and were therefore unaware they had the virus.
“An antibody test will enable us to retrospectively test suspected patients so we can gather a more accurate picture of how widespread the virus is, and consequently, among other things, the true mortality rate. It will also assist in the assessment of effectiveness of trial vaccines,” Dr. Catton said.
2019-nCoV coronavirus continues its global spread:
The casualties: 132 people have died, all in mainland China; there are 5,974 confirmed cases across the country, and more than 70 confirmed cases outside China, including the US, Australia, France and Germany.
Accelerating spread: the virus appears to be spreading rapidly — there was a 30% jump in reported cases in mainland China in just one day.
Human-to-human infections: Germany and Japan have both confirmed cases of patients who tested positive for coronavirus, but who had not visited Wuhan, Hubei province, China.
China’s response: some 60 million people are under travel restrictions in Hubei province; the provincial capital, Wuhan, is under almost complete lockdown, with no movement in or out; in several cities, businesses and schools have been closed for the next few weeks.
Hospitals under strain: hospital staff in Hubei province are struggling to cope with the number of patients, and supplies are running low; China has deployed 1,800 more medical personnel to the province to help.
Global response: numerous countries have stepped up airport screenings and warned their citizens not to travel to China; some countries, including Indonesia and the Philippines, have restricted Chinese tourists; others have begun to plan for the evacuation of their citizens from Wuhan; Hong Kong is to stop issuing individual travel permits for travelers from mainland China.
