Wuhan Virus - RACIST, But Not in 1998

FYI: Calling #COVID19 the "Wuhan Virus" is racist.

— David Gura (@davidgura) March 9, 2020

This is ridiculous.

Viruses often are called by the place they were first detected. That's nothing new and it's certainly not racist.

Zika, Ebola, Lyme disease, German measles, Spanish flu, Reston virus, West Nile virus, Hong Kong flu are/were all fine tho? https://t.co/w2n6AK7siu

— Christine Rousselle 💁🏻‍♀️ (@crousselle) March 9, 2020

This is not an exhaustive list.

Remember the Sydney flu?

Influenza Strain Details for A/Sydney/5/97(H3N2)

From the New York Times, "Strain of Flu From Down Under Brings a Global Misery for Many," January 15, 1998:

Health officials around the country are trying to determine the potency of a new strain of influenza, Type A Sydney, that was first noticed locally aboard a fall foliage cruise ship from New York City to Montreal.

The strain is not included in this year's flu vaccine, but public health officials say it appears to be similar in structure to a common strain of the flu. So the vaccine may help fend off symptoms.

...Nationally, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which monitors and identifies strains of the flu, said this year does not appear to be particularly bad for influenza.

But Dr. Rima Khabbaz, the centers' deputy director for the division of viral disease, said the agency is watching the spread of Type A Sydney, which she said accounted for 40 percent of the flu samples sent in for identification from health officials around the country.

She described Type A Sydney, which was first identified in Australia last June and has been found in fewer than a dozen American states, as a relative of Type A Wuhan, one of three strains in the standard flu vaccination. She said, however, the strain did not appear to be responsible for any outbreaks, even in Texas and Tennessee, the other states where influenza is widespread.

Though they are not certain, she said the closeness of the two viruses suggests that Type A Sydney is not more virulent than Type A Wuhan.

So back in 1998, there was a Type A Wuhan virus.

No complaints about that reference being racist in 1998.

From the Washington Post, "SICK WITH FLU? IT COULD HAVE BEEN A LOT WORSE," February 24, 1998:

Although it may have taken a toll at the just-ended Winter Olympics in Japan, influenza in the United States this year is having a mild to moderate run. Officials were surprised, however, by the emergence of an unexpected strain of flu virus from Australia.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the number of U.S. flu cases is nearly identical to the amount found last year at this time. Rates of the most severe complications are also running at the same pace.

"If you look at pneumonia and influenza mortality this year as compared to last, it also looks about the same," said Helen L. Regnery, a public health scientist with the CDC's influenza branch.

A type A influenza, called Wuhan (named for the Chinese province where it was first identified), is the predominant strain of virus causing the hacking coughs, high fevers and achy muscles that plague flu sufferers throughout the country. The 80 million doses of flu vaccine distributed in the United States for this flu season contained protection against Wuhan as well as two other strains of flu virus, according to public health officials.

But the shots did not include killed strains of Sydney, the virus named for the Australian city, which is unexpectedly emerging as the second-leading cause of influenza in the United States this year. "The flu always gives us a surprise," Regnery said.

Like the Wuhan virus, Sydney is a type A strain of influenza. Both Sydney and Wuhan are also classified as H3N2 viruses, a designation that describes the types of proteins on the viruses' outer capsule. Experts said that Sydney is close enough to Wuhan that the flu shot will offer some protection against it. "It's not that the vaccine does not provide any coverage at all," Regnery said. "There's a certain amount of cross-reactivity."

...Based on the latest epidemics this season, the World Health Organization announced last week that the flu vaccine formula for the 1998-99 influenza season should include protection against three strains: Sydney and Beijing A and B. All are currently circulating, the WHO said, and are expected to be a problem next year.

Enough with the charges of racism for calling COVID-19 the Wuhan coronavirus.

No one complained when the WUHAN VIRUS was identified in these Leftist publications. No one complained about identifying the BEIJING VIRUS or the SYDNEY VIRUS.

When I had the Sydney flu, I didn't hold any weird animus for Australians.

The cries of racism are absolutely insane.