The CDC and the Coronavirus Pandemic

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

You may have heard of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also called the CDC.

The CDC is part of the United States government tasked with keeping Americans healthy and safe from sickness. The CDC headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia, but the CDC monitors health all around the United States.

The CDC researches and monitors all kinds of things related to our health. If you have ever heard a warning about certain foods causing food poisoning, it likely came from the CDC.

In late 2018, romaine lettuce was issued a large recall. The public was told not to eat or buy any romaine lettuce.

• The reason?

E.coli bacterium. People were getting sick from the lettuce.

When health issues like this one occur, the CDC issues press releases to keep the public informed. They monitor new cases and the progress of old cases. They also try to determine the cause of the issue.

In this case, water contaminated with fecal waste (poop) had been used to water the romaine plants.

In January 2020, the CDC found itself investigating another health issue caused by the COVID-19 virus. This stands for COrona VIrus Disease from 2019. It is also called SARS-CoV-2.

This virus has been nicknamed coronavirus, but coronaviruses are actually a family of viruses. COVID-19 is just one of several coronaviruses.

COVID-19 is also a type of SARS, but it is a different virus than the one responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2002-2003.

Why is COVID-19 a type of SARS?

SARS stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

Severe, in this case, means that the medical event is intense; not that it's a serious case.

Acute means that it comes on rapidly, not gradually.

Respiratory refers to the fact that the illness is mainly affecting your respiratory system.

A syndrome is any condition that comes with a set of symptoms, such as a runny nose, coughing, fever, etc.

What does the CDC do to protect us from diseases like COVID-19?

Besides monitoring the situation and keeping track of important data, the main role of the CDC is to provide information to the public.

Misinformation can be widespread during any public health scare, so the information you get and pass on must be accurate.

Where did this coronavirus come from?

COVID-19 was a newly discovered virus that had never been seen in humans before.

Mysterious cases of pneumonia were first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. On January 7, 2020, Chinese authorities confirmed that they identified a new virus, later named COVID-19 and nicknamed coronavirus.

We know that COVID-19 is zoonotic, meaning transferred between species.

This is how scientists believe the virus began with humans. Someone likely ate or came in close contact with an animal with the virus.

• Which animal?

It is likely COVID-19 came from either a pangolin (a scaly ant-eater) or a bat, both pictured below.

• Want to know how this happened?

Watch the video below to learn how viruses jump from animals to humans.

The first person who was exposed to COVID-19 and became infected is known as patient zero. From there, they infected others, and the virus spread.

Epidemic, pandemic, or endemic?

COVID-19 began as an endemic — a disease that exists only in a particular area or group of people.

Epidemics are outbreaks of disease that spread through multiple communities and attack many people at the same time.

COVID-19 quickly became a pandemic, which is an epidemic that has spread throughout the world.

How did COVID-19 spread so quickly?

After COVID-19 jumped from animals to humans, it spread globally easily. It only takes one infected person in an airport to spread the virus to thousands of locations worldwide.

The video below (no sound) shows three scenarios in which an epidemic has begun.

The first box is a scenario where people at the outbreak center are unlikely to travel long distances. The third scenario is the opposite: one where people are very likely to travel far from the outbreak.

• Which one do you think is most similar to our world today?

For a more detailed explanation of this phenomenon, watch the next video.

Patients who were suspected to be infected with COVID-19 were immediately quarantined to try to stop the spread that you saw in the videos above.

A quarantine is when people who are infected or may be infected are separated from everyone else.

Anyone who has contact with these people wears protective clothing like an n95 respirator, which is an upgraded version of a face mask, or a hazardous materials (hazmat) suit, which is a suit that covers and protects the entire body.

People in quarantine are closely monitored to see if their health improves or worsens. If they are deemed healthy, they can go home. If not, they will stay in quarantine.

Wow, this is some serious stuff.

• Need a break?

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