EB, fwiw my mom raised me the same way. Dirt, animals, I was exposed to everything and didn’t overly sanitize or anything.
Was still a sick child who missed a lot of school.
Some people are just more susceptible to illness than others
Yes, was exposed to tons of dirt, as were my kids. We were all still sickly and still get and stay sick more than peers. 
First case confirmed in Massachusetts - a Boston man in his 20s who recently visited Wuhan.
“The man recently traveled to Wuhan, China, and sought medical care soon after his return to Massachusetts. He has been isolated since that time and will continue to remain isolated until cleared by public health officials. His few close contacts have been identified and are being monitored for any sign of symptoms.” (Boston Herald)
I wonder about the other passengers on his return flights.
I am surprised it took so long for the disease to appear in the east coast.
With the coronavirus crisis that will probably last several months if not longer, I think it will have some impacts on the number of freshman students coming from China to attend US college this fall.
The US ban on most foreign nationals who had been to China in the last two weeks from traveling to the US will probably last a couple of months before it will get lifted. Similar case for flights to and from mainland China that major U.S. airlines have halted. Prospective students from China can not make necessary planning to get visas and get flights to attend admitted students events. Hopefully all these will be back to normal before the fall semester starts. Not the less, it will cast shadow over prospective Chinese students and their families.
I’m calling it here: the virus cannot be contained and will spread through the world. That said, I wonder about the mortality rate. I believe there are mild cases of the coronavirus, and those people won’t seek medical attention, and won’t be reported in official numbers. This is bad for the virus’ spread, but good because it means the mortality rate is probably lower.
(I don’t have a medical background, but I’m an avid reader of books on pandemics) And despite my fascination with the subject, I’m not that worried about the coronavirus, let me be clear. In fact the most worrying thing, to me, is that the governments of the world don’t seem to agree with me – they are acting like it IS extremely worrying!
Som of our high schools have Chinese students attending as well. I’m wondering what is happening with those students…as well as prospective enrollments for fall 2020.
And tourism here. For example, Disney properties attract a lot of Asian families. Maybe most don’t come from mainland China.
I’m optimistic this will eventually be contained…and new cases will reduce in number.
Here’s a teleconference from CDC about the quarantine.
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/t0131-2019-novel-coronavirus.html
You obviously did not eat enough dirt or dog hair. 
An update on the first US coronavirus case:
I don’t think this can be contained, it’s already out there. Sounds like people can be contagious before the symptoms are shown, and likely many have had mild cases without even knowing it. I’m hoping this passes, like the flu, and they learn enough about it quickly to stop it from killing too many people. Wondering if quarantining all those people in highly affected areas is going to be more dangerous than the virus itself.
@romanigypsyeyes , Exactly. There is a large genetic component to immunity as well. I and two of my brothers were rarely ill in childhood, but another brother caught everything. And we all had our shots, had pets, and ate dirt. One brother clearly drew from the sickly end of the gene pool.
The Boston case is a student who recently returned from Wuhan.
I haven’t read through the whole thread, but my take is from my D who is a physician. She is irritated that people are so overly concerned about this yet how many people die from the flu in the US each year. That they can get a shot to prevent? Why not more emphasis on that?
Interesting perspective about coronaviruses. It talks about worldwide travel, abundance, and poor people who are looking for protein sources.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/opinion/coronavirus-china.html
+1
The Boston patient lives right across the street from my son and daughter. The area is very densely populated with young professionals. His building is attached to TD Garden and a large shopping and entertainment complex that includes North Station. Literally thousands of of people pass through there every day. Presumably, that many may have been exposed to his germs if he was out in public at all. My two kids have decided to stay off the T and away from large crowds for the time being.
Ironically, his building is called the Hub. I hope not - I’m kinda worried.
“ most of the bat hosts of these CoVs live near humans, potentially transmitting viruses to humans and livestock. Chinese food culture maintains that live slaughtered animals are more nutritious, and this belief may enhance viral transmission.”
The thing is, the only person to person transmission case is the wife in Illinois who gave it to her husband. Their infant grandkid is now currently hospitalized with a high fever while awaiting test results to see if baby may have nCoV.
None of the other US people have transmitted disease to anyone, NOT ONE. To me, this is a sign that it’s not that easy to casually transmit.
In the news stories I’ve seen, they do try to include the message about flu vaccines and hand washing precautions and covering your cough with nCoV messages but newer is sexier and grabs headlines more than the “old” (more lethal) flu.