COVID-19: Myth and Reality

Zeba Naz, Uqba Mehmood, Muneef Anwar, Shahadat Ali

Abstract

COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease that is caused by SARS-CoV-2 that has high recombination and mutation rates. Several new viral infections have been appeared in different geographical regions in recent decades, the causative pathogens include Zika virus, Nipah virus, Ebola virus and coronaviruses. After the 1918’s flu pandemic, COVID-19 has become the fifth known pandemic and it marked the third large scale coronavirus pandemic in humans. At the end of December, 2019, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan city, Hubei Province of China has brought back the coronaviruses into the limelight and the outbreak has astonished us with its high transmissibility. All previous six coronaviruses species that are known to infect humans are reported to have zoonotic origin. Since the emergence of COVID-19 there has been significant discussion and debate on the origin of SARS-CoV-2. The origin of human’s infecting SARS-CoV-2 is mysterious and unrevealed and is still being investigated. The pandemic puzzle revolves around three potential origins which includes the natural emergence of virus through different factors, the testing of a biological weapon or an accidental release of the deadly virus from the lab. In this article, all the three possible origins are being discussed.