Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared as pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11th, 2020 mainly due to the speed and scale of the transmission of the disease. Before that, it started as an epidemic in mainland China with the focus being firstly reported in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province in February 26th. The agent of COVID-19 was isolated and identified as a novel coronavirus, initially designated as 2019-nCoV. Later, the virus genome was sequenced and because it was genetically related to the coronavirus outbreak responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003, the virus was named as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) by the International Committee for Taxonomy of Viruses.
The origin and source of the SARS-CoV-2 remains unknown, although the initial cases have been associated with the Huanan South China Seafood Market where snakes, birds and other animals such as bats were sold. Considering that many of the early patients worked in or visited the market in contrast to the exported cases, it was suggested either a human to human transmission or a more widespread animal source. A suspected bat origin was suggested after 96% genome sequence identity was demonstrated between SARS-CoV-2 and another coronavirus named Bat-CoV-RaTG13 isolated from bat species which colonized a province nearly 2000 km away from Wuhan. Pangolins were also suggested as natural host of coronaviruses. However, evidence of human to human transmission became strongly supported on January 22nd, 2020 after a visit conducted by a WHO delegation to the city of Wuhan. Since the first outbreak recognized in February 2020, the disease spread rapidly around the world. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, as of 17th of June 2020; 8,142,129 cases of COVID-19 and 443,488 deaths have been reported worldwide since 31st December 2019. American continent was among the ones with highest number of cases (3,987,543) with United States and Brazil the leading countries (2,137,731 and 923,189 respectively)
HOW IS COVID-19 DIFFERENT FROM SARS?
It’s important to note that while COVID-19 may be new, coronaviruses are not. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause the common cold and other illnesses. This is also not the first time a coronavirus has caused a major disease outbreak.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) spread around the globe from 2002 to 2003. There are many similarities between COVID-19 and SARS. Both are caused by coronaviruses that can lead to severe respiratory illness. Even the names of the viruses that cause the two diseases—SARS-CoV (the SARS virus) and SARS-CoV-2 (the COVID-19 virus)—sound similar. However, there are some key differences between the two coronavirus diseases. A notable difference between the two diseases is that COVID-19 has infected many more people than SARS. During the 2002–2003 SARS outbreak, there were 8,439 confirmed cases. As of August 2020, the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide had climbed well over 23.5 million. One theory why the new coronavirus is more widespread than SARS is that people with COVID-19 can infect others up to three days before symptoms start, whereas people with SARS are only contagious when they have symptoms. This can make it difficult for public health workers to trace the virus and prevent community spread of COVID-19.
COVID-19 AND THE FLU
The two respiratory illnesses are caused by completely different types of viruses. The flu is caused by influenza viruses, not a coronavirus. While the flu and COVID-19 may have similar symptoms—such as fever, cough, chills, and fatigue—COVID-19 differs from the flu in some very important ways:
- A person with COVID-19 may also have other signs, like loss of taste or smell.
- It can take two to 14 days for a person with COVID-19 to show symptoms (or they may never show symptoms at all). A person with the flu will typically show symptoms one to four days after infection.
- People with COVID-19 can be contagious for a lot longer (two days before symptoms and up to 10 days after infection) than someone with the flu (one day before symptoms and typically three to four days into the illness).
- COVID-19 is more likely than the flu to spread quickly, easily, and continuously through super spreader events.
- The new coronavirus disease also has a higher death rate than the flu. The death rate from the seasonal flu is much lower at an estimated. While the seasonal flu is a public health concern that affects millions each year, COVID-19 is clearly more dangerous and a major threat to the health of the U.S. population.
DISCLAIMER: This article is not meant to be medical advice to anyone. It is just for general knowledge about COVID 19. If you think you have COVID or exhibit its symptoms, you must seek the advice of your medical practitioners.
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