Ep 43 M-m-m-my Coronaviruses

What better time to explore the world of coronaviruses than amidst an outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus that brings to mind memories of SARS and MERS? On this very special episode of This Podcast Will Kill You, we’ll take you through what we know about this diverse group of viruses, from the mild strains constantly circulating to the epidemic ones that make headlines with their lethality. Want to know how exactly these royal viruses make you sick? Or what went on during the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic? Don’t worry - we’ve got you covered. And to help us get a grasp on the current 2019-nCoV outbreak that’s got the world’s attention, we’ve brought on four experts from Emory University to give us the lowdown: Dr. Colleen Kraft, Dr. G. Marshall Lyon, Dr. Aneesh Mehta, and Dr. Carlos del Rio.

*Please keep in mind, we recorded this episode on Sunday, Feb 2 and conducted the interviews between Jan 29 and 30, 2020. Since recording, the statistics on 2019-nCoV that we and our guests reported have changed as the epidemic continues to evolve. The figures are changing fast, but the basic info is still relevant.

To follow the 2019-nCoV outbreak, our experts recommend the following as reliable sources of information:

WHO 2019-nCoV website, especially the Situation Reports Map Dashboard of 2019-nCoV Cases by Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering CDC 2019-nCoV website

And to learn more about the amazing work that our special guests do on the regular, follow them on Twitter!

Colleen S. Kraft, MD, MSc (@colleenkraftmd)

G. Marshall Lyon, MD, MMSc (@GMLyon3)

Aneesh K. Mehta, M.D., FIDSA, FAST (@AneeshMehtaMD)

Carlos del Rio, MD (@CarlosdelRio7)