3 ms·

I’m confused. SARS and COVID-19 (the current coronavirus outbreak) aren’t the same, right? Which one are we talking about here?

Proven 7y ago
SARS-COV-2 = COVID-19 (SARS v2)
leesec 7y ago
COVID-19 is the name of the disease SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the new gene.
- JPLeRouzic 7y ago
  From Wikipedia [0] I think that you are right that COVID-19 is the name of the disease, but SARS-CoV-2 is the name of a coronavirus, not the name of a gene: Citation: " During the ongoing 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) originally recommended use of the temporary designation "2019-nCoV" (2019 novel coronavirus) to refer to the virus. However, this led to concerns that the absence of an official name might lead to the use of prejudicial informal names, and in common parlance the virus was often referred to as "the new coronavirus", "Wuhan coronavirus", or simply "coronavirus". Per 2015 WHO guidelines on the naming of viruses and diseases, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) announced that it would introduce a suitable official name for the virus. On 11 February 2020, the ICTV introduced the name "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2" (SARS-CoV-2) to refer to the virus strain previously known as 2019-nCoV. Earlier the same day, the WHO officially renamed the disease caused by the virus strain from "2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease" to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). " [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome_coronavirus_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndr...
deleted 7y ago
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sschueller 7y ago
"On February 11, 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, charged with naming new viruses, named the novel coronavirus, first identified in Wuhan, China, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, shortened to SARS-CoV-2. As the name indicates, the virus is related to the SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that caused an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003, however it is not the same virus." [1] [1] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html
- roywiggins 7y ago
  It's doubly confusing because "SARS" stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, but SARS-CoV-19 is a virus, not the syndrome. But we aren't calling the disease SARS-19, we are calling it COVID-19...
deleted 7y ago
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sndean 7y ago
I believe SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of the COVID-19 disease, maybe similar to how B. anthracis causes anthrax or HIV causes AIDS. (I'm not a virologist or epidemiologist, though.)

Proven 7y ago

SARS-COV-2 = COVID-19 (SARS v2)

leesec 7y ago

COVID-19 is the name of the disease SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the new gene.

JPLeRouzic 7y ago
From Wikipedia [0] I think that you are right that COVID-19 is the name of the disease, but SARS-CoV-2 is the name of a coronavirus, not the name of a gene: Citation: " During the ongoing 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) originally recommended use of the temporary designation "2019-nCoV" (2019 novel coronavirus) to refer to the virus. However, this led to concerns that the absence of an official name might lead to the use of prejudicial informal names, and in common parlance the virus was often referred to as "the new coronavirus", "Wuhan coronavirus", or simply "coronavirus". Per 2015 WHO guidelines on the naming of viruses and diseases, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) announced that it would introduce a suitable official name for the virus. On 11 February 2020, the ICTV introduced the name "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2" (SARS-CoV-2) to refer to the virus strain previously known as 2019-nCoV. Earlier the same day, the WHO officially renamed the disease caused by the virus strain from "2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease" to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). " [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome_coronavirus_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndr...

deleted 7y ago

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sschueller 7y ago

"On February 11, 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, charged with naming new viruses, named the novel coronavirus, first identified in Wuhan, China, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, shortened to SARS-CoV-2. As the name indicates, the virus is related to the SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that caused an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003, however it is not the same virus." [1] [1] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html

roywiggins 7y ago
It's doubly confusing because "SARS" stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, but SARS-CoV-19 is a virus, not the syndrome. But we aren't calling the disease SARS-19, we are calling it COVID-19...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

sndean 7y ago

I believe SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of the COVID-19 disease, maybe similar to how B. anthracis causes anthrax or HIV causes AIDS. (I'm not a virologist or epidemiologist, though.)