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Scanning electron micrograph of SARS virions. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is the disease caused by SARS-CoV-1. It causes an often severe illness and is marked initially by systemic symptoms of muscle pain, headache, and fever, followed in 2–14 days by the onset of respiratory symptoms, [13] mainly cough, dyspnea, and pneumonia.
Coronaviridae is a family of enveloped, positive-strand RNA viruses which infect amphibians, birds, and mammals.Commonly referred to as coronaviruses in the English language, the family coronaviridae includes the subfamilies Letovirinae and Orthocoronavirinae; the latter also known as coronavirinae.
The name "coronavirus" is derived from Latin corona, meaning "crown" or "wreath", itself a borrowing from Greek κορώνη korṓnē, "garland, wreath". [8] [9] The name was coined by June Almeida and David Tyrrell who first observed and studied human coronaviruses. [10]
SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, was first introduced to humans through zoonosis (transmission of a pathogen to a human from an animal), and a zoonotic spillover event is the origin of SARS-CoV-2 that is considered most plausible by the scientific community.
Coronavirus diseases are caused by viruses in the coronavirus subfamily, a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, the group of viruses cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal.
Cholera (caused by Vibrio cholerae bacteria) and bubonic plague, or the Black Death (caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis) are some of the most famous examples of how devastating a pandemic can be.
Ebright has stated that the genome and properties of SARS-CoV-2 provide no basis to conclude the virus was engineered as a bioweapon, [28] [29] but he also has stated that the possibility that the virus entered humans through a laboratory accident cannot be dismissed and has called for a thorough investigation of the origin of the pandemic and for measures to reduce the risk of future pandemics.
SARS stands for SARS-CoV-1 or COVID-19, variola viruses for smallpox. Basic structural characteristics, such as genome type, virion shape and replication site, generally share the same features among virus species within the same family.