COVID-19: a novel zoonotic disease caused by a coronavirus from China: what we know and what we don't

• Main Authors: David W Smith, John S Mackenzie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: CSIRO Publishing 2020-01-01
• Series: Microbiology Australia
• Online Access: https://www.publish.csiro.au/ma/pdf/MA20013

At the end of December, 2019, a new disease of unknown aetiology appeared in Wuhan, China. It was quickly identified as a novel betacoronavirus, and related to SARS-CoV and a number of other bat-borne SARS-like coronaviruses. The virus rapidly spread to all provinces in China, as well as a number of countries overseas, and was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the Director-General of the World Health Organization on 30 January 2020. This paper describes the evolution of the outbreak, and the known properties of the novel virus, SARS-CoV-2 and the clinical disease it causes, COVID-19, and comments on some of the important gaps in our knowledge of the virus and the disease it causes. The virus is the third zoonotic coronavirus, after SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, but appears to be the only one with pandemic potential.