Coronaviruses are known to infect both animals and humans. A strain of
Coronaviruses known as SAR-CoV also belongs to the Coronaviruses family and is
known to have caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndromes (SARS) in 2002-03. This
infection has also affected humans at a faster pace. Coronaviruses are found in various
animal species like cattle and camels. Recently, Coronavirus disease, abbreviated as
Covid-19, emerged as a highly transmittable and pathogenic infection caused by severe
acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is believed to have been
originated in Wuhan, China, around November 2019. Currently, almost all the
countries of the world have been affected by this infection, and millions of people
across the globe have died with the virus so far, and the overall toll is likely to go much
higher. In March 2020, this infection was labelled as a pandemic by World Health
Organization. Genome analysis was conducted, which revealed similarities of Covid-19
viruses with that of SARS. This led to a hypothesis that, like SARS, Bats can also be
the possible primary reservoir for Covid-19 as well. There are many theories going
around regarding the origin of SARS-CoV-2; one study pointed out that Covid-19
originated from Bats while the other indicated its origin from pangolin. Both the
studies failed miserably to establish the spread of Covid-19 to humans as both the
animals have no frequent contact with the humans. There are a lot of pieces of evidence
suggesting SARS-CoV-2 as a possible zoonotic source for COVID-19. Some theories
also pointed out the laboratory origin of COVID-19, but no evidence has been provided
to this claim. Contrary to this claim, its genomic sequences do not contain a mix of
known elements. Studies are being conducted to know the intermediate source of origin
of COVID-19 and its possible transfer to humans. A lot of vaccines have been
approved against it that are supposed to prevent its spread during clinical trials
conducted across the globe. These are broad-spectrum antiviral drugs that could help
recover the infected patients.
Keywords: Coronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2.