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Research by scientists shows that the new type of coronavirus we heard about in December 2019 is very similar to the virus that was responsible for the SARS epidemic. Getting to know the Wuhan coronavirus as much as possible is key to successfully treating it and preventing its further spread. What do scientists know?
SARS-CoV-2 is the official name of the Wuhan coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease. The name SARS-CoV-2 is used in scientific publications. The new type of coronavirus has been so named because its genome is 75% accurate. overlaps with the genome of the SARS coronavirus. Although they are similar to each other, they are two separate pathogens.
WHO recommends using the name COVID-19 or the coronavrius that causes COVID-19 in the media to avoid false associations with the coronavirus that causes SARS.
Zobacz: Comparison of the coronavirus from Wuhan and SARS
Coronaviruses belong to the Coronaviridae family and the Coronavirinae subfamily. They fall into four types: alphacoronaviruses, beta-coronaviruses, gamma-coronaviruses, and deltacoronaviruses. The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus belongs to the type of beta-coronavirus. They can infect mammals, are zoonotic pathogens, and can cause severe respiratory disease in humans.
SARS and MERS also belong to the same group of coronaviruses. The researchers also found that the new type of coronavirus has a similar structure to the SARS receptor binding domain, which could mean that it uses the same receptor (ACE2) to cause infection in humans.
What you should know about the coronavirus:
- Coverage of the Wuhan coronavirus [MAP updated]
- At what temperature to wash bed linen and towels to kill the virus?
The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which is responsible for the COVID-19 infection, is almost spherical in shape. It owes its name to a protein shell with insets that resembles a crown. A single virus particle has a diameter of 60 to 140 nanometers.
The coronavirus consists of:
- the peak protein (S), which is responsible for interaction with the receptor on the cell surface,
- RNA, or the genome of the virus,
- nucleocapsid (N) protein, which has two functions – protects the RNA molecule and actively participates in the modification of cellular processes and viral replication
- the envelope protein (E), which is responsible, inter alia, for forming virions,
- membrane protein (M), is the main matrix protein of the virus,
- hemagglutinin esterase (HE) dimer protein, which improves the ability of the virus to spread across mucous membranes.
Scientists at Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) were the first to visualize the appearance of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus using various microscopic techniques. The colors in the photos were added by the NIAID graphics department.
Why is it so important to learn about the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus as accurately as possible? This will help develop a vaccine against the coronavirus and help control its spread.
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