The continued epidemic threat of SARS-CoV-2 and implications for the future of global public health

Curr Opin Virol. 2020 Feb:40:37-40. doi: 10.1016/j.coviro.2020.05.010. Epub 2020 Jun 4.

Abstract

A new coronavirus (CoV) called SARS-CoV-2 emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019 as the etiological agent of a viral pneumonia called COVID-19. The global spread of SARS-CoV-2 has been so extensive that the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Below, we discuss the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and provide the historical context, which strongly suggests emerging CoVs provide an immediate threat to global public health and will continue to do so in the future.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Betacoronavirus*
  • COVID-19
  • China / epidemiology
  • Communicable Diseases, Emerging / epidemiology
  • Communicable Diseases, Emerging / virology
  • Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
  • Disease Reservoirs / virology
  • Global Health*
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • World Health Organization