AN UNPRECEDENTED OUTBREAK OF RESPIRATORY ILLNESS OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN EMERGED IN

CHINA CAUSING GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN.

CORONAVIRUSES ARE A LARGE FAMILY OF VIRUSES KNOWN TO CAUSE MILD TO

MODERATE UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTION. HUNDREDS OF CORONAVIRUSES

CIRCULATE AMONG ANIMALS, SOME OF WHICH HAVE TRANSFERRED TO HUMANS. A NEWLY

IDENTIFIED STRAIN, DISTINCT BUT CLOSELY RELATED FROM BOTH SARS-COV AND MERS-COV,

HAS CAUSED A RECENT OUTBREAK OF RESPIRATORY ILLNESS.

THE THIRD NOVEL CORONAVIRUS TO EMERGE THIS CENTURY HAS BEEN NAMED COVID-

19 WHICH STANDS FOR CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019. THIS INFECTIOUS DISEASE WHICH IS

CAUSED BY A VIRUS CALLED SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONAVIRUS 2 (SARS-

COV-2) WAS FIRST IDENTIFIED IN WUHAN CHINA IN DECEMBER 2019 WHICH HAS AFFECTED 26

COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE. THE ZOONOTIC NATURE OF THE VIRUS PROMPTED EARLY

HYPOTHESES LINKING THE OUTBREAK TO A SEAFOOD MARKET IN WUHAN CHINA. ON MARCH

11, 2020 THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION CHARACTERIZED COVID-19 AS A GLOBAL

PANDEMIC AS AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE DISEASE’S GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD.