What is SARS-CoV-2?
How did SARS-CoV-2 get this name?
SARS-CoV-2 stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and is the name of the virus that causes the coronavirus disease COVID-19. On February 11, 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) gave the virus this name due to its genetic relation to the coronavirus that was responsible for the SARS outbreak that occurred in 2003. Please note that SARS-CoV-2 is different from the virus that caused the 2003 SARS outbreak.
To understand the difference between the various coronavirus names, watch the video below.
You can learn more about the naming of the virus from the World Health Organization (WHO) here.
Picture of the Huanan Seafood and Wildlife Market in Wuhan, China. From Zhang and Holmes, Cell 2020.
Where did SARS-CoV-2 come from?
According to the most recent studies (as of June 1st, 2020), SARS-CoV-2 originated in the Huanan Seafood and Wildlife Market in Wuhan city, Hubei province, central China. The Huanan Seafood and Wildlife Market sells many types of animals, including mammalian species through which humans likely contracted the virus. While bats are believed to be the natural reservoir of SARS-CoV-2, scientists currently think that an intermediate animal likely transmitted SARS-CoV-2 from bats to humans. The most accepted mechanism for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from animals to humans is through the pangolin, which has a history of being illegally trafficked and carrying other viruses. More research and genomic sequencing are needed to fully understand how SARS-CoV-2 became the COVID-19 epidemic. To learn more about what is currently known about the origins of SARS-CoV-2, check out this paper.
To learn more about the zoonotic disease and how scientists are investigating its origins, check out the npr video below.
How does SARS-CoV-2 enter the body?
SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted mainly through the air and through saliva. When people talk, breathe, cough or sneeze, particles of saliva are sent into the air, and that saliva can enter another person’s body through the mouth, nose, and even the eyes. All of these regions contain mucus membranes, which are the places most susceptible for entry of foreign material into the body. This is the main reason why it is advised to stay six feet apart from others and to wear a mask, that way the respiratory droplets will be less likely to reach you or others in the area. On the molecular level, SARS-CoV-2 gets into the body by binding to the ACE2 receptor that is found on the surface of cells in the lung.
To learn more about SARS-CoV-2 and how it enters the body. Check out this video below that explains what parts of our body are susceptible and how the virus gets into our cells.
Have we seen a virus like this before?
Coronaviruses are a group of viruses whose infection ranges from the common cold to SARS and MERS. SARS-Cov-2 is a certain strain of coronavirus that is more contagious than the common cold, and targets the respiratory system, with some cases showing no symtoms, to pneumonia like symptoms, and in some cases complete loss of breathing.
In the video linked below, Dr. Cowl explains the differences from COVID-19, and other coronaviruses that we are familiar with. In this short video he answers frequent questions, and addresses the root of the name.