Twenty Years of Coronaviruses

Coronaviruses have formerly been considered as quite harmless respiratory viruses for humans. After two previous outbreaks of severe respiratory tract infection, caused by two different coronavirus namely the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERSCoV), this is the third time when a totally different type of coronavirus named as COVID-19 emerges and infect human population all over the World. This virus originated in bats and was transmitted to humans through some unknown intermediate species in Wuhan, Hubei province, China in December 2019. The infection of COVID-19 transmits by inhalation or contact with aerosols of infected patient and the incubation period vary from 2 days to 14 days. The symptoms disease are mild in most people and includes Sore throat, cough, fever and fatigue but in some patients (usually the elderly and those with some underlying disease), it may progress to pneumonia, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and multiple organ dysfunction or failure. All these facts brought coronaviruses globally to limelight and also highlighted the necessity of controlling these pathogens.