Coronaviruses

Question 1

SARS-CoV-2 is the ___ known coronavirus to infect and spread among humans.

Answer 1

7th

Question 2

What are examples of other types of coronaviruses other than COVID?

Answer 2

SARS-CoV-1
(2002-2003)
MERS-CoV
(2012- present)

Question 3

Describe the basics of the Coronaviridae family

Answer 3

Members of this family have a viral envelope and a positive sense single stranded RNA genome.
Spike proteins resemble a solar corona hence coronavirus

Question 4

Describe other instances of coronaviruses that have been around for a long time

Answer 4

Common cold CoVs are usually associated with mild seasonal respiratory illness (10-30% of adult infections) .
229 E, OC43 (1960s)
HKU1, NL63 (after SARS-CoV-1, 2002-2003).

Question 5

Map the events of
SARS -CoV-1

Answer 5

2002-2003 SARS
Nov 16th 2002: First known cases of Atypical pneumonia in Foshan China
Feb 11-12 2003: China reports 305 cases of acute respiratory syndrome.
April 2003: identified as a CoV
Spread to different countries around the world but ultimately contained.

Question 6

Map the events of MERS-COV

Answer 6

Sep 2012: First reported cases in Saudi Arabia
Nov 2012: Identified as a novel coronavirus
Primarily confined: to countries in and near the Arabian Peninsula

Question 7

Map the events of SARS-COV-2

Answer 7

Late 2019-present
Dec. 31 2019: WHO informed pneumonia cases of unknown cause in China
Jan 9th 2020: identified cause of pneumonia as a novel coronavirus
Feb 11 2020: Virus named SARS-CoV-2 & WHO names disease COVID-19
Mar. 11 2020: Declared a pandemic

Question 8

What are some important facts about SARS-COV-2 virology

Answer 8

COVID-19 = Coronavirus disease 2019
Causative agent is SARS-CoV-2
Originally termed 2019- ncos
First detected in Wuhan China
Coronavirdae: single strand (+) sense RNA genome virus.
Family includes SARS and MERS viruses.

Question 9

What are the clinical features and pathogenesis of COVID-19?

Answer 9

respiratory illness
Fever
Cough
Shortness of breath
Severe cases result in pneumonia
Vaccine is now available
Immunopathgoenic mechanism

Question 10

What are proposed transmission routes of COVID-19?

Answer 10

Aerosl droplets
Respiratory droplets
Droplets on surfaces
Fecal-oral
Airborne

Question 11

What are zoonotic diseases?

Answer 11

Infectious disease caused by a pathogen that has crossed a species barrier from animals to humans.

Question 12

What is the epidemiology of COVID-19

Answer 12

Initial cases were tracked to a fish market in Wuhan China
Subsequently found familial clusters
Declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020

Question 13

Why are bats often a reservoir for human CoVs?

Answer 13

Comprise about 20% of known species of mammals (huge diversity of bats)
The only mammal that can fly
Unique metabolic adaptations
metabolic rates of bats in flight is up to 2.5-3x those of similar sized exercising terrestrial mammals.
flying bats consume about 1,200 calories of energy per hour
heart rate = 1,066 beats per minute during flight
When adjusted for body size, only 19 species of mammals are lower lived than humans: 18 of these species are bats (others are naked mole rats).

Question 14

What makes bats especially dangerous in terms of passing on CoV

Answer 14

Bats can harbor numerous replicating viruses without symptoms or disease.
Enhanced potential for CoV recombination/evolution leading to novel CoVs

Question 15

What is One Health?

Answer 15

This is the idea that the health of people is connected to the health of animals and our shared environment.
When we protect one
We help protect all

Question 16

What is the ACE-2 enzyme?

Answer 16

It is both an enzyme and a functional receptor on cell surfaces through which SARS-CoV-2 enters the host cells and is highly expressed in the heart, kidneys, and lungs and shed into the plasma.