Author(s)

Tai-Jin Kim

Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Suwon, Hwasung City, South Korea.

The 1918 Spanish flu, 2002 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) were investigated to reveal their causes and routes of transmission. They have the common features such as 1) the induction by viruses (Spanish flu; avian influenza virus (AIV), SARS and MERS-CoV; coronavirus), 2) the outbreak during the maximal sunspot number, 3) the aeolian desert dust region (Spanish flu; Saharan, SARS; Asian, MERS-CoV; Arabian), and 4) similar incubation period (AIV; 5, SARS; 2 - 7, MERS-CoV; 5 days), 5) different transmission reservoir (Spanish flu; aquatic bird/swine, SARS; bat, MERS-CoV; bat/dromedary camel). When carbon dioxide (CO₂) combustion emissions were simultaneously high at the maximal sunspot number, UV radiation in the Poles was so extensive to mutate the aquatic virus through the food web to be the fundamental reason for these pandemic. Guangdong Province and Hong Kong in China are the source of 2002-2003 SARS. The stranded dead whales and dolphins along the coast of the Persian Gulf might be fed on by coastal animals in the Arabian Desert to transmit MERS-CoV. Mutations in the hot temperature in the Arabian Desert and Persian Gulf, and the maximal sunspot numbers were observed in Saudi Arabia. Saudi crude burn in power plants since 2009 with coincidental outbreaks of MERS-CoV in Saudi Arabia since 2012 peaking in 2014. The reduction of CO₂ emissions by nuclear power plants is a unique solution to decrease MERS-CoV outbreaks.

Spanish Flu, SARS, MERS-CoV, CO₂ Emission, Maximal Sunspot Number

Kim, T. (2019) Spanish Flu, SARS, MERS-CoV by CO₂ Emission and Maximal Sunspot Number. Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering, 12, 53-75. doi: 10.4236/jbise.2019.121005.