COVID-19: The Catastrophe of Our Time

The most discussed topic in today's world is COVID-19, an acute respiratory disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) because of its contagious transmission pattern, and morbimortality. The virus was originated by bats and in December 2019, first spread to humans by unknown intermediate species in Wuhan, China. The dramatic acceleration of the occurrence and death toll of COVID-19 with no potential medicine and vaccine are enough to explain its severity. This review summarizes multidisciplinary aspects of COVID-19, including origin, epidemiology, symptoms, transmission, pathogenicity, impact on world economy and advances in the use of modern diagnostic procedures and methods. Further, we analyzed extensively for various therapeutic strategies, potential drug options with prospective vaccine candidates and challenges along the way. All data were accumulated through extensive study of recent peer-reviewed publications and authentic reports until June 7, 2020. Collectively, this review would help to shed light on different dimensions of this ongoing pandemic. Corresponding author Sudhangshu Kumar Biswas, PhD Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Islamic University, Kushtia-7003, Bangladesh Email: shu_genetics@yahoo.com ‘#’ These authors contributed equally to this work. Academic editor Dr. Md. Masudur Rahman Sylhet Agricultural University Bangladesh. Article info Received: 07 May 2020 Accepted: 12 June 2020 Published: 15 June 2020