You know that feeling when someone mentions their child has head lice, or that their pet has fleas, and you immediately start scratching your head?
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Your roommate comes down with a cold and you suddenly feel a tickle in your throat.
The relationship between mind and body is a sensitive one.
The first time I heard any mention of coronavirus I didn't think much of it. After-all, Wuhan China is a fair distance from Tasmania.
However, as the growing number of cases started to slowly trickle into the news headlines, I started to pay more attention.
By January 30 when the World Health Organisation declared the now outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern, I was fully immersed.
This was also three days after I boarded a plane bound for Japan for a long awaited two-week holiday with my partner.
Like most international holidays, the decision to travel wasn't a spur of the moment decision.
It was the result of years of savings, coordinated annual leave and ensuring the parents were free to babysit the dog.
So, the prospect of cancelling a holiday over fears of potentially being infected with a mysterious new virus wasn't on our radar.
Yet from the moment we arrived at the airport, something felt different. Sitting in a departure lounge, watching footage on the news reminiscent of the film Contagion was eerie.
Travelling in a foreign country where everyone seemed to be wearing face masks, it didn't take long before I started to question my own health.
So when we did get sick, there was a (brief) moment of panic over whether it could be something more serious than just a cold. It wasn't.
A day after arriving back in Australia, Japan had its first confirmed coronavirus case.
Now it, like many countries outside of China, has hundreds making up the more than 84,000 cases worldwide.
As I write this, Australia has had no confirmed coronavirus cases for more than two weeks (with the exception of the Diamond Princess cruise ship). Tasmania has had no confirmed cases at all.
Still like many, the apprehension is there. And with the word 'pandemic' now entering the conversation - I find myself irrationally scratching my head and clearing my throat more than ever before.