As the coronavirus, now called 2019-nCoV, continues to spread Chinese scientists sequenced the viral genome and made it pubic. Now researchers around the globe are examining the sequence as part of an effort to understand the disease. “It really is an amazing feat that they got these sequences out as quickly as they did,” says UTMB’s Vineet Menachery.

In this interview, UTMB’s Vineet Menachery provides answers to questions readers may have about the coronavirus that continues to spread. “The public in the United States should be aware, but not yet worried,” Menachery says. Yahoo! News also published the interview.

UTMB’s Samuel Mathis recently attended the Texas Medical Association’s Winter Conference where physicians from all over the state of Texas meet to discuss health care policy and issues that affect patients.

The Galveston County Daily News, January 22, 2020 - UTMB to serve as hub for homelessness count - MLK Community Service Award honorees - Lefeber Winter Series on Aging

According to most public health officials, the public should be paying attention, but not panicking about the new coronavirus. In this story from WebMD, UTMB’s Jim LeDuc indicates he agrees with that advice. “I think we should be a little concerned, but not overly so,” says LeDuc.

UTMB researchers continue to monitor the recent spread of the newly identified coronavirus. In this report from ABC’s Houston affiliate, Tom Ksiazek explains researchers in UTMB’s Galveston National Laboratory are able to get involved in the fight to treat the virus.

James LeDuc, director of UTMB’s Galveston National Laboratory, outlines public health advancements in China since the SARS outbreak of 2003. The advancements have allowed the country to much more rapidly identify and begin to deal with the most recent novel coronavirus. In that time the National Laboratory has welcomed Chinese health officials to learn about biocontainment facility design and construction, biosafety training and laboratory operations.

A 1920 plague outbreak on Galveston Island, and the work of UTMB’s Paula Summerly to document the efforts that resulted in elimination of the illness, is revealed in this story originally published in The Galveston County Daily News. Summerly’s discoveries have turned up newspaper articles and a doctor’s journal documenting the city’s fight with plague, which included the extermination of more than 46,000 rats.

UTMB fellow Sagar Kamprath examines a theory from the book “The End of Alzheimer’s” that may explain why advances in treating the illness have been so elusive.

In this installment of their popular column, UTMB’s Megan Berman and Richard Rupp help readers understand why it is important that adolescents receive the human papillomavirus vaccine.