Coronaviruses are a large family of enveloped RNA zoonotic viruses. The emerging novel coronavirus from Wuhan, China that was first reported on December 8, 2019 and initially associated with seafood markets is the 7th coronavirus (named 2019-nCoV) known to infect humans. While four coronoviruses (229E, OC43, NL63, HKU1) cause relatively minor symptoms similar to the common cold, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) cause more severe, pneumonia-like symptoms with fatality rates of approximately 10% and 34%, respectively. With thousands of infections in China and a list of at least 18 countries around the world with confirmed cases, the 2019-nCoV has the potential to cause widespread economic and social consequences. Data from China suggests that the current fatality rate for 2019-nCoV is about 4%. Several isolates of the virus have been sequenced, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed a real-time reverse-transcription PCR test for clinical samples, and Chinese labs have successfully isolated and grown 2019-nCoV in cell culture. The medical community, however, still has a lot of unanswered questions about this emerging virus including epidemiologic data on the severity, prevalence, and transmissibility (including person-to-person and transfusion-transmission).
References:
- Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W, Li X, et al. A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019. The New England Journal of Medicine
- Perlman S. Another decade, another coronavirus. The New England Journal of Medicine 2020
- Munster, VJ. Koopmans M, van Doremalen N, van Reil D, and de Wit E. A Novel Coronavirus Emerging in China — Key Questions for Impact Assessment. The New England Journal of Medicine
- CDC Health Update. Outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, China
- WHO Newsroom Statement on the meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). January 23, 2020
