Tanzania confirms first coronavirus case

TANZANIA CONFIRMS FIRST CORONAVIRUS CASE

The history of human coronaviruses began in 1965 when Tyrrell and Bynoe found that they could passage a virus named B814. It was found in human embryonic tracheal organ cultures obtained from the respiratory tract of an adult with a common cold. 

The presence of an infectious agent was demonstrated by inoculating the medium from these cultures intranasally in human volunteers; colds were produced in a significant proportion of subjects, but Tyrrell and Bynoe were unable to grow the agent in tissue culture at that time. At about the same time, Hamre and Procknow were able to grow a virus with unusual properties in tissue culture from samples obtained from medical students with colds. Both B814 and Hamre's virus, which she called 229E, were ether-sensitive and therefore presumably required a lipid-containing coat for infectivity, but these 2 viruses were not related to any known myxo- or paramyxoviruses. 

While working in the laboratory of Robert Chanock at the National Institutes of Health, McIntosh et al reported the recovery of multiple strains of ether-sensitive agents from the human respiratory tract by using a technique similar to that of Tyrrell and Bynoe. These viruses were termed “OC” to designate that they were grown in organ cultures.

Within the same time frame, Almeida and Tyrrell performed electron microscopy on fluids from organ cultures infected with B814 and found particles that resembled the infectious bronchitis virus of chickens. The particles were medium sized (80–150 nm), pleomorphic, membrane-coated, and covered with widely spaced club-shaped surface projections. The 229E agent identified by Hamre and Procknow and the previous OC viruses identified by McIntosh et al had a similar morphology

Tanzania's Minister for Health Ummy Mwalimu. Tanzania on March 16, 2020 confirmed its first case of Covid-19 in the country

Tanzania on Monday confirmed its first case of Covid-19 in the country.

Health ministry said the 46-year-old woman returned from Belgium on Sunday aboard a RwandAir plane.

The woman was screened on arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) in Arusha but she did not have any symptoms of the virus. Later, she fell ill while in her hotel room in Arusha and went to hospital, Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said.

Samples were taken to Dar es Salaam for testing and results confirmed the woman was infected with the coronavirus.

Ms Mwalimu added that the woman is in isolation and her condition is improving.

The minister urged Tanzanians to take precautions to prevent infection, and to report at any medical centre if they develop any symptoms of the disease
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