The world is responding to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus that was first detected in China and is now spreading across the globe, just yesterday determined to be a pandemic by the World Health Ogranization.
Representation of the coronavirus COVID-19. The virus’ surface, or envelope, is studded with ... [+]
The virus is named SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes has been named coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19.
As cases of COVID-19 top 1,500 in the United States, and 150,000 worldwide, the nuclear field is stepping up with a unique diagnostic technique aided by nuclear, called Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction, or RT-PCR.
RT-CPR can help detect and identify this coronavirus accurately within hours in humans, as well as in animals that may also host it. RT-CPR is a method which identifies the genes-expression relating to DNA repair, cell cycle checkpoint, and apoptosis induced by ionizing radiation. It can tell us a lot about exposure and transmission paths of the virus.
RT-PCR is a nuclear-derived technique that can help detect and identify the novel coronavirus ... [+]
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will provide diagnostic kits, equipment and training in nuclear-assisted detection techniques to countries asking for help in tackling the worldwide spread of this novel coronavirus. The assistance, requested by fourteen countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, is part of intensified global efforts to contain infections.
"The Agency takes pride in its ability to respond quickly to crises, as we did in the recent past with the Ebola, Zika and African Swine Fever viruses," said IAEA Director General Mariano Grossi. "Contributing to international efforts to deal with the coronavirus will remain a priority for me as long as the outbreak persists."
In two weeks, the Joint IAEA/Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Animal Production and Health Laboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria will host the first training course in these detection techniques. It will include medical and veterinary experts from Cambodia, Republic of Congo, Cote d´Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam, the IAEA said. Additional regional courses will be organized for other countries, including Latin America and the Caribbean.
Training will include biosafety and biosecurity procedures to protect health and veterinary workers during sampling and analysis and to prevent further external contamination. They will receive emergency toolkits with personal protection equipment, specific diagnostic reagents and laboratory consumables. A number of national laboratories will also receive additional equipment, such as bio-safety cabinets and RT-PCR devices.
Veterinary experts are being included in the training in an effort to increase countries' preparedness in the early detection of viruses that cause zoonotic diseases, that is, diseases originating in animals that can spread to humans, just like happened with COVID-19.
They will be trained to test domestic and wild animals implicated in the transmission of coronaviruses, such as the new strain SARS-CoV-2 that actually caused COVID-19, and others that cause Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.
Nuclear-derived techniques, such as RT-PCR, are important tools in the rapid detection and characterization of viruses, like the one causing COVID-19. “Such tools are the only means to have certainty,” said IAEA Nuclear Medicine Physician Enrique Estrada Lobato.
This not the first time nuclear has addressed disease issues. Radiation is the most environmentally-friendly tactic available to control deadly insects, like the tsetse fly and has succeeded beyond all hope in eradicating the tsetse fly scourge in parts of Africa. The tsetse fly kills millions of livestock and thousands of people each year with its sleeping sickness, and removing this scourge is not only saving lives, but alleviating billions of dollars lost.
The assistance to countries in tackling COVID-19 is delivered through the IAEA’s technical cooperation program, which supports the peaceful application of nuclear technology in areas such as human and animal health. It’s funded through the IAEA’s Peaceful Uses Initiative, which was launched in 2010 to mobilize additional funding for such projects.
