Quarantine the cat? Disinfect the dog? The latest advice about the coronavirus and your pets.

Summary: When a Pomeranian in Hong Kong tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 last week, pets quickly became part of the coronavirus conversation. The case raised the alarming possibility that pets could become part of the transmission chain for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which could potentially harm both them and us. But many questions remain about this possibility and how best to respond.

Source: https://www.sciencemag.org

The award-winning daily news site of the journal Science. Every day the news staff of Science magazine and our contributing freelancers bring you breaking news from the world of scientific research and science policy. Our offerings include breaking research news, ScienceInsider (news and analysis from the world of science policy), and Sifter, a blog that points you to the best science stories on the web. We also post a weekly podcast. 

Read the full article here: https://neurosciencenews.com/covid-19-digestive-symptoms-15942/

Redeploying plant defences

Summary: The complicated secondary metabolism of plants has been the source of countless medicinal compounds and leads for drug discovery. It is little surprise then that plant products and their analogues have been employed as an early line of defence against COVID-19. On 17 February, the Chinese State Council announced that chloroquine phosphate — a structural analogue of quinine, originally extracted from the bark of cinchona trees — can be used for treating COVID-19 patients.

Source: www.nature.com

Epidemic diseases are not a new phenomenon, but easy access to transport in the modern world has accelerated their spread. Perhaps some botanical understanding can help slow them down.

Read the full article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-020-0628-0

The Simplest Way to Spot Coronavirus Misinformation on Social Media

Summary: If you were on Twitter Monday (Mar.1/20), there’s a solid chance you ran across the tweet above, imploring readers not to use hand sanitizer to guard against the coronavirus. In less than a day, it was retweeted nearly 100,000 times and racked up a quarter of a million likes. 

Source: Will Oremus – Senior Writer and Digital Literacy Expert https://onezero.medium.com/@WillOremus

The tweet, part of a plague of misinformation that has accompanied the spread of COVID-19 around the world, illustrates how social media could worsen the outbreak by encouraging counterproductive actions.

Read the full article here: https://onezero.medium.com/the-simplest-way-to-spot-coronavirus-misinformation-on-social-media-4b7995448071