Coronavirus (COVID-19)

I get the impression that its just the sufferers with preexisting conditions that get wiped out.  Why do they all seem to originate in China? Is it people living close to animals/poultry? If so,why not India or other similar? Is it acold climate thing?

Given that SARS also originated in China, I doubt that.

As a scientist for over 40 I have seen the rise of infection that can kill thousands and can’t be cured initially.

I soon learned that epidemiology is a very complicated field. Diseases can spread based on blood group. The plague affected people of different blood groups giving us the modern ratios. Asians have different ratios to those of western origins and this may affect disease aetiology. 

As for why animal human interaction is not the same in India as China. India has more taboos on animal consumption where exotic animal consumption is more acceptable in Chinese culture.

Sars is a difficult comparative virus although 90% similar sars  is only infectious in post symptomatic phase this virus appears from latest news to be infectious in pre symptomatic phase. This is ultimately far more dangerous.

It may have a lower % death rate but if it ends up with a higher infection rate that would result in a far worse overall outcome.

With a relatively long incubation period it make control considerably more difficult.

As with the Hep C blood/ Factor VIII scandal difficult decisions might need to be made.

Simple answer, a disease that kills quickly naturally limits its spread so they often tend to disappear or mutate into something less harmful/noticeable.  Also people/authorities may take precautions that help eg wars end, people get healthier, infection control is tightened up (procedures & enforcement).  Some diseases are also seasonal.  In some cases, the selection pressure is such that we evolve ways of protecting ourselves from it.  i read a paper recently that suggested the reason why some people get Crohn's disease was that certain gene mutations that are correlated with incidence were selected for during European plague outbreaks. 

There is a difference in quick opportunistic mutations that don’t survive and mutations that can adapt and prosper.
Those with the ability to infect without high mortality rate will survive like Hiv mutations.

Some beneficial gene mutations that are advantageous in some situations where movement was restricted in the past have huge effects in modern societies.

There are plentiful of examples . Sickle Cell mutations to protect against malaria and Hemochromatosis gene can protect during ancient famine. These can cause problems in modern society where diets are less stressful on the body.

Sad but true the world needs a pandemic to clean up its act and rid itself of us troublesome humans. A short hard shock to a single generation could fix all the major environmental problems.

Unfortunately we are the generation that will suffer.

The perfect solution is a euphoria producing virus that spreads easily and has the side effect of causing sterility in 70% of those infected that would fix the earth without any great hardship individually .

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't a number of these diseases cross-over because humans have sex and/or interfere with animals?

IF so, it makes eminent sense to me to be, shall we say, more "circumspect" when dealing with countries where such practices are more likely to occur?

Political Correctness and it's Cousins are all well and good, but I don't want to die from them. Especially through no fault of my own.