Situation Summary February 6th 2020

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Chinese authorities identified the new coronavirus, which has resulted in hundreds of confirmed cases in China, including cases outside Wuhan, with additional cases being identified in a growing number of countries internationally. The first case in the United States was announced on January 21, 2020.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people and others that circulate among animals, including camels, cats and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can evolve and infect people and then spread between people such as has been seen with MERS and SARS.Disinfectant products that control 2019-nCoV (2019 Coronavirus)Emerging Viral Pathogen Guidance for Antimicrobial Pesticides

Emerging pathogens are an increasing public health concern in the United States as well as globally. Many of the emerging pathogens of greatest concern are pathogenic viruses, and the ability of some of these viruses to persist on environmental surfaces can play a role in human disease transmission.

Because the occurrence of emerging viral pathogens is less common and predictable than established pathogens, few, if any, EPA-registered disinfectant product labels specify use against this category of infectious agents. Also, the pathogens are often unavailable commercially and standard methods for laboratory testing may not have been developed. Thus, it can be difficult to assess the efficacy of EPA- registered disinfectants against such pathogens in a timely manner and to add these viruses to existing product registrations, which requires the submission of efficacy data for agency review. As a result, the agency is providing a voluntary, two-stage process to enable use of certain EPA-registered disinfectant products against emerging viral pathogens not identified on the product label.

EPA has allowed under the above guidance that products that kill Norovirus, Rotavirus and Adenovirus type 7 are effective against the 2019-nCoV (2019 Coronavirus).

The Bullen branded products that the Emerging Viral Pathogen Guidance would fall under for Coronavirus are Airx RX44ACE, RX44HDQ,RX75, RX78 +, Spray N Go, Truekleen Septin 420, Kleen 64 and Poten AB. For more info from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html

There's been a run of surgical masks in the US because of the coronavirus scare. You don't need them, physicians say

There's no evidence of sustained novel coronavirus transmission in the US like there is in China, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not recommended Americans wear masks in public.
"Right now, there's no evidence that [wearing face masks] is going to help prevent that infection," Chiu, a professor of laboratory medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told CNN. "I would not recommend that someone in the US who does not have direct exposure, did not recently travel to China...or in general that you go buy a face mask." https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/28/health/coronavirus-us-masks-prevention-trnd/index.html

February 6th 2020