Coronaviruses are a big family of different viruses. Some of them cause the common cold in people. Others infect animals, including bats, camels, and cattle. But how did SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, come into being?
Here’s what we know about the history of the coronavirus that was first detected in late 2019 and sparked a global pandemic.
There are two hypotheses about the origin of COVID-19: exposure to an inflamed animal or a lab leak. There is insufficient evidence for any of these arguments.
The most recent intelligence reports agree that SARS-CoV-2 has not genetically changed or evolved as a biological weapon. They say it’s conceivable that a version of a coronavirus was studied with animals in a lab and that the exposure occurred there. Again, there is not enough evidence to draw a definitive conclusion.
Because the first cases of COVID-19 appeared in China, there has been a lot of anti-Asian speech and acts around the origins of SARS-CoV-2. Other recent, serious epidemics have begun on other continents — Ebola virus and Zika virus, among them. Coronavirus is unique in that a certain racial or ethnic group has been blamed and targeted for the disease.
Why is COVID-19?
The virus that causes COVID-19 is called SARS-CoV-2, or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus was originally called the 2019 novel (new) coronavirus. The abbreviated call is COVID-19.
Virus names are based on their genetic makeup. The virus that causes COVID-19 was named SARS-CoV-2 because it is genetically similar to the virus that caused the SARS outbreak in 2003.
He uses clinical language when referring to the coronavirus disease and avoids offensive terms such as “Wuhan flu” or “Chinese flu,” which have led to a rise in racism and violence against Asians. It’s also not accurate to call the flu COVID-19, which killed nearly 7 million people worldwide through the end of 2023. Coronavirus disease is not caused by a flu virus.
When will the first case of COVID-19 occur?
Many studies have been conducted on the origins of SARS-CoV-2, but none have been conclusive. The coronaviruses that cause Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) evolved from bats.
COVID-19 first emerged on a small scale in November 2019, with the first giant outbreak occurring in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. First, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was thought to have made the leap to humans in one of the open-air “wet markets” in Wuhan, China. Wet markets are partially or fully open-air markets that sell new produce and meat. The Chinese office of the World Health Organization was informed of several cases of pneumonia of unknown cause, accompanied by symptoms such as fever and shortness of breath, that appeared to be market-related.
As COVID-19 spread in and out of China, it inflamed other people who did not have direct contact with animals. This meant that the virus was transmitted from one human to another. Its spread continued in the US and around the world, where other people unknowingly caught and transmitted the virus. Global transmission caused a pandemic declared on March 11, 2020 through the World Health Organization.
Scientists first learned about a human coronavirus in 1965. It was causing a cold. Later in the decade, researchers discovered an organization of similar human and animal viruses and named them after their crown-like appearance.
Seven coronaviruses can infect humans. The cause of SARS emerged in southern China in 2002 and temporarily spread to 28 other countries. By July 2003, more than 8,000 people had been infected and 774 had died. A small outbreak in 2004 affected only four other cases. This coronavirus causes fever, headache and respiratory disorders such as cough and shortness of breath.
MERS emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012. La majority of the nearly 2,500 cases occurred in other people living in or traveling to the Middle East. This coronavirus is less contagious than SARS but more lethal and killed another 858 people. It has the same effect. However, respiratory symptoms can also cause kidney failure.
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COVID-19 is one of seven coronaviruses that are known to infect humans. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is genetically related to the virus that caused the 2003 SARS outbreak. There is still no definitive theory as to coronavirus disease’s origins. Scientists aren’t sure whether it jumped from animals to humans or was developed in a lab. Because the coronavirus disease outbreak began in Wuhan, China, there has been a rash of anti-Asian language and behavior unlike what’s been seen in previous disease outbreaks. Several years after the pandemic began, the history of this novel coronavirus is still being written.
When was coronavirus 1 first discovered?
The first human coronavirus was discovered in 1965. Coronaviruses cause respiratory diseases and can infect humans and animals. In humans, the virus can manifest as a mild bloodless illness or more severe, such as pneumonia.
What is the first story of COVID-19?
The virus that caused COVID-19 was a novel coronavirus, meaning it had never inflamed humans. The virus was discovered in Wuhan, China, in 2019 and has spread around the world. It was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March. 2020.
When were coronaviruses first named?
The call comes from the virus’s unique spines, which resemble a crown. When the first virus was discovered in 1965, scientists named it coronavirus.
SOURCES:
University of California, San Francisco: “As the coronavirus spreads, experts know when to call a doctor, how testing works, and much more. “
National Public Radio: “Why They’re Called ‘Wet Markets’ — And What Health Risks They Might Pose.”
Nature’s Medicine: “The Proximal of SARS-CoV-2”.
Emerging Infectious Diseases: “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 from Patient with 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease, United States.”
The Lancet: “Genomic Characterization and Epidemiology of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus: Implications for Virus Origins and Receptor Binding. “»
CDC: “Healthcare Professionals: Frequently Asked Questions and Answers,” “Human Coronavirus Types,” “Animals and Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19),” “Similarities and Differences between Flu and COVID-19,” “CDC Museum COVID-19 Timeline.”Science: “Cryo-EM structure of the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation.”
The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal: “History and Recent Progress in the Discovery of the Coronavirus. “
Virology: “Bat origin of human coronaviruses.”
World Health Organization: “Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)”, “Naming coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the virus that causes it”, “WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard”.
Cross-border and disease: “The origins of the COVID-19 pandemic: a brief overview. “
Race and Justice: “COVID-19 Pandemic and Anti-Asian Racism & Violence in the 21st Century.”
University of Utah: “The 2020 Surge of Anti-Asian Hate Language.”
The Lancet Planetary Health: “Better classification of rainy markets is to safeguard human health and biodiversity. “
National Foundation for Infectious Diseases: “What Are Coronaviruses?” »
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