Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

SARS-CoV-2 is a Baltimore class IV positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus. It is believed to have zoonotic origins and has close genetic similarity to bat coronaviruses. The virus primarily spreads between people through close contact and via respiratory droplets produced from coughs or sneezes. Virus may remain viable on plastic and stainless steel for up to three days, but does not survive on cardboard for more than one day or on copper for four hours.

About Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in brief

SARS-CoV-2 is a Baltimore class IV positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus. It is believed to have zoonotic origins and has close genetic similarity to bat coronaviruses, suggesting it emerged from a bat-borne virus. The virus primarily spreads between people through close contact and via respiratory droplets produced from coughs or sneezes. It mainly enters human cells by binding to the angiotensin converting enzyme 2. Virus may remain viable on plastic and stainless steel for up to three days, but does not survive on cardboard for more than one day or on copper for four hours. Virus is inactivated by soap, which destabilises its lipid bilayer. Viral RNA has also been found in stool samples and semen from infected individuals. The degree to the incubation period is uncertain, but research has indicated that the pharynx reaches its peak viral load approximately four days after symptoms, after which it declines. There is some evidence of human-to-animal transmission with some examples of infected felids, including felids in alveolar regions. Some institutions have advised those infected in felids to stay away from those with high levels of infection in the airways and in the lungs. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020, and a pandemic on 11 March 2020. In September 2020, based on data analysis, researchers reported the discovery of the genome of the virus’s index case.

Epidemiological studies estimate each infection results in 5.7 new ones when no members of the community are immune and no preventive measures taken. The WHO sometimes refers to SARS- CoV- 2 as \”the COVID-19 virus\” in public health communications and some research articles. The general public often calls both the virus and the disease it causes, \”coronavirus\”. U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly referred to the virus as the ‘Chinese virus’ in tweets, interviews, and White House press briefings, which drew some criticism that he was stigmatizing the disease with racial or nationalistic overtones. During the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China, various names were used for the virus; some names used by different sources included the \”Coronav virus\” or ‘Wuhan coronavirus’. On 11 February 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses adopted the official name ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome coronav virus 2’ to avoid confusion with the disease SARS. It was previously referred to by its provisional name, 2019 novel coronav Virus, and also been called human coronaviral 2019. The virus is the successor to the strain that caused the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak. As described by the U. S. National Institutes of Health, it is the same strain as the virus that caused SARS in the 1990s and early 2000s. It is thought that the spillover event introducing the virus to humans is likely to have occurred in late 2019.

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