Assessment of Viral Diversity Confers Outbreak: The History of the Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome-Coronavirus 2 in India

Abstract

A novel coronavirus was an outbreak in Wuhan, China in late December 2019 cause the global pandemic. This SARS- CoV-1 (Wuhan-Hu1) is transmitted from bats to human in Wuhan, China. Then spread over Wuhan to Europe, Asia, African continents to cause massive outbreak. The circulating virus in India is a SARS-CoV-2, a genetically diverse form of SARS-CoV-1. The virus is highly contagious and spreads human-to-human rapidly with confirmed cases in almost every country across the world and has become a new global public health crisis. The virus infects the human respiratory epithelial cells by binding through Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors. Currently, there is no definite treatment for COVID-19 although some drugs are under investigation. This book chapter focusses on the review of the current SARS-CoV-2 outbreak emphasizing epidemiology, pathogenesis, prevention strategies and discussed the current scientific advancements to combat the epidemic novel coronavirus. The knowledge concerning this virus is evolving rapidly and hence the readers are encouraged to update themselves regularly. The measure epidemic control in India is prepared through laboratory set up for diagnosis, social distancing, travel ban, digital contact tracing and finally completely lockdown. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India is actively engaged in epidemic measures in different states of India.