Corona Daily 494: Patient 0

Have you heard of Wei Guixian? Probably not. But a hundred years from now, she may be part of history.

Wei Guixian is an ordinary 57 year old lady selling shrimps. Until last month, nobody except her family and fellow-sellers knew her. But now, the American newspapers have identified her as ‘Patient Zero’, the first patient to start the pandemic. The Chinese have not confirmed it, but we tend to believe the Americans more.

Scientists are always keen to find Patient Zero (or the Index Case). Genetic analysis can allow them to trace the infection back to the first person, particularly at the start of the epidemic. They can talk to that patient (if alive) to learn when, where and how the disease was contracted. Politicians are keen to find him/her to pin the blame on a certain State. And society is keen to find her so she can be stigmatized for the rest of her life.

Indeed, Mary Mallon, nicknamed ‘Typhoid Mary’ was a tragic case. A healthy carrier of Salmonella typhi, she was the reason for the Typhoid outbreak that infected 3000 New Yorkers. Mary was forced into quarantine, deported to North Brother Island for 26 years and died alone.

Between 2013-16, the Ebola epidemic had spread to ten countries including the US, UK and Italy, killing more than 11,000 people. The whole thing was apparently started by a 2-yearold boy from Guinea. Scientists went to his village, Meliandou, talked to the villagers, and took samples. The small boy was infected because he was playing in a hollow tree that had housed a colony of bats. The lesson is to keep an eye on your young children.

Why should the first patient be called Patient Zero? Gaetan Dugas, a Canadian flight purser, was identified as the first possible HIV patient. American scientists code-named him ‘patient-O’ (O standing for Out-of-California). That O was misunderstood as zero.

Ravi