No, Karen, The Coronavirus Has Nothing to Do With Beer!

The trending topic lately, and the latest victim of hilarious memes, is the Coronavirus. The virus itself is fairly common, according to WebMD, and causes infections in the nose, sinus, or throat. Most strains of the virus are not dangerous at all.

Strains of the virus, Middle east Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), have claimed the lives of thousands since 2003, although it was originally discovered in the 1960's. An outbreak of the virus recently this year in China has given a new strain of the virus a new name. 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). This is the one that the world is referring to when they talk about the "deadly" virus.

The name, Corona, comes from the crown-like shape it has. NOT because it comes from beer that shares the name. Since the middle of January, key words like corona beer virus, beer virus, and beer coronavirus have started to be one of the highest searched for topics on Google.

Don't worry, it doesn't come from the beer. According to WebMD, on average we have all had it at least once in our lifetime. The normal strain itself is more common in children and happens more in the fall and winter times.

If you want to avoid this new strain, stay away from traveling to China, specifically Wuhan. That is where the new strain began, and almost all patients that have left from there have tested positive for it. The cases that are being watched in the US have been to Wuhan as of December of 2019, where it is believed they contracted the virus.