COVID-19 historical perspective

Coronavirus, named due to the “crown” like the appearance of its surface projections, was first isolated from chickens in 1937. The etiological agent, a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), named for the similarity of its symptoms to those induced by the severe acute respiratory syndrome, causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is a virus identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China.

• Coronavirus, named due to the “crown” like the appearance of its surface projections, was first isolated from chickens in 1937.
• In 1965, Tyrrell and Bynoe used cultures of human ciliated embryonal trachea to propagate the first human coronavirus (HCoV) in vitro.
• There are now approximately 15 species in this family, which infect not only humans but cattle, pigs, rodents, cats, dogs and birds (some are serious veterinary pathogens, especially those that infect chickens).

• The etiological agent, a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, named for the similarity of its symptoms to those induced by the severe acute respiratory syndrome, causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is a virus identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China.^[1][2]
• Initially, the patients were believed to have contracted the virus from seafood/animal markets which suggested animal-to-human spread.
• The growing number of patients however, suggest that human-to-human transmission is actively occurring.^[3][4]
• The outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020.
• On March 12, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.

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