Open AccessCOVID-19: What Do We Have Learnt So Far?
Author(s) -
Samreen Zaidi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
national journal of health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2519-7878
pISSN - 2519-7053
DOI - 10.21089/njhs.52.0055
Subject(s) - coronaviridae , coronavirus , middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus , virology , middle east respiratory syndrome , betacoronavirus , covid-19 , nidovirales , coronavirus infections , biology , medicine , outbreak , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , pathology
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are the largest group of viruses; order is Nidovirales while family is Coronaviridae. They are further subdivided into four groups, the alpha, beta, gamma and delta coronaviruses [1]. These viruses usually cause mild infections but two zoonotic epidemics of the betacoronaviruses, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) [2] and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) [3] have occurred in this century, mortality rates of 10% for SARS-CoV [4] while a very high i.e. 37% for MERS-CoV [5].