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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #374399
Research Project: Detection and Control of Foodborne Parasites for Food Safety

Location: Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory

Title: SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: A genetic, epidemiological, and evolutionary perspective

Author
item SIRONNI, MANUELA - Bioinformatics Scientific Institute Irccs E Medea
item HASNAIN, SEYED - Jamia Millia Islamia University
item Rosenthal, Benjamin
item PHAN, TUNG - Indiana University
item LUCIANI, FABIO - University Of New South Wales
item SHAW, MARIE-ANNE - University Of Leeds
item SALLUM, M.ANICE - Universidade De Sao Paulo
item MIRHASHEMI, MARZIEH - University Of Massachusetts
item GONZALEZ-CANDELAS, FERNANDO - Polytechnic University Of Valencia (UPV)

Submitted to: Infection, Genetics and Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/26/2020
Publication Date: 5/29/2020
Citation: Sironni, M., Hasnain, S.E., Rosenthal, B.M., Phan, T., Luciani, F., Shaw, M., Sallum, M., Mirhashemi, M.E., Gonzalez-Candelas, F. 2020. SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: A genetic, epidemiological, and evolutionary perspective. Infection, Genetics and Evolution. 84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104384.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104384

Interpretive Summary: The world is experiencing a global pandemic of a new respiratory infection that has disrupted life, threatened livelihoods, and sickened many. Despite the recency of the onset of this infection, much has been learned about how the virus is changing as it spreads, providing evolutionary insights as to its origins, dynamics, and vulnerabilities. Here, a panel of editors with diverse specialities in ecology, phylogeny, epidemiology, immunology, and vaccinology synthesize early lessons in hopes of informing practitioners and the public as to what is taking place, what we can expect, and how we can protect ourselves and minimize public harms. The information will be of interest to physicians, epidemiologists, evolutionary biologists, ecologists, public health authorities, and the general public.

Technical Abstract: In less than four months, COVID-19 has spread from a small focus in Wuhan, China to more than 3 million people in almost every country in the world, dominating the concern of most governments and public health systems. The social and political distresses caused by this epidemic will certainly impact our world in the coming months, probably years. Here, we synthesize lessons from a range of scientific perspectives rooted in epidemiolgy, virology, genetics and evolutionary biology so as to provide perspective on how this pandemic started, how it is developing, and how best we can stop it.