The next day, scientists predicted that 1,700 people had become infected, possibly up to 7,000.Īccording to scientists, the virus almost certainly came from bats. Coronaviruses in general tend to originate in animals – the similar SARS and MERS viruses are believed to have originated in civet cats and camels, respectively. The first person died that week and, by January 16, two were dead and 41 cases were confirmed. Tests were developed for the new virus and recorded cases started to surge. The first human cases were publicly reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where approximately 11million people live, after medics first started publicly reporting infections on December 31.īy January 8, 59 suspected cases had been reported and seven people were in critical condition. The animal origin of the new coronavirus is not yet known.' 'Coronaviruses are known to be able to occasionally jump from one species to another and that is what happened in the case of SARS, MERS and the new coronavirus. Four of these cause a mild common cold-type illness, but since 2002 there has been the emergence of two new coronaviruses that can infect humans and result in more severe disease (Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses). 'Until this new coronavirus was identified, there were only six different coronaviruses known to infect humans. The disease that the virus causes has been named COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019.ĭr Helena Maier, from the Pirbright Institute, said: 'Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals.
The name stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2.Įxperts say the bug, which has killed around one in 50 patients since the outbreak began in December, is a 'sister' of the SARS illness which hit China in 2002, so has been named after it. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak.
Coronaviruses are named after the Latin word 'corona', which means crown, because they are encased by a spiked shell which resembles a royal crown.
Viruses break into cells inside their host and use them to reproduce itself and disrupt the body's normal functions.
A coronavirus is a type of virus which can cause illness in animals and people.