Coronavirus Disease PHGKB|Home|PHGKB

Coronavirus Disease PHGKB|Home|PHGKB

 Spotlight

Genomic Study Points to Natural Origin of COVID-19
NIH Director Blog, March 26, 2020

What is the natural origin of the novel coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 pandemic? We don’t yet have a precise answer. But they do offer two possible scenarios: In the first scenario, the virus evolved in its natural hosts, possibly bats or pangolins. The second scenario is that the virus crossed from animals to humans before it became capable of causing disease

Beware of Fraudulent Coronavirus Tests, Vaccines and Treatments
FDA, March 24 2020

Because COVID-19 has never been seen in humans before, there are currently no vaccines to prevent or drugs to treat COVID-19 approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Fraudulent products that claim to cure, treat, or prevent COVID-19 haven’t been evaluated by the FDA for safety and effectiveness and might be dangerous to you and your family.

The Coronavirus Is Mutating. But That May Not Be A Problem For Humans
P Huang, NPR, March 25, 2020

As the new coronavirus continues to spread around the globe, researchers say the virus is changing its genetic makeup slightly. But does that mean it is becoming more dangerous to humans? And what would the impact be on any future vaccines? So far, "there is no credible evidence of a change in the biology of the virus either for better or for worse."

Predicting the number of reported and unreported cases for the COVID-19 epidemic in South Korea, Italy, France and Germany
P Magal et al, MEDRXIV, March 24, 2020

We model the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic in South Korea, Italy, France, and Germany. We predict the cumulative number of reported cases to a final size. The key features of our model are timing of implementation of major public policies restricting social movement, identification and isolation of cases, and impact of asymptomatic infectious cases.