Since the start of the pandemic in China in December 2019, several names have been assigned to the raging virus. First coronavirus then Covid-19. Today, some are even talking about Sars-CoV-2 and 2019-nCoV. All of these terms do not mean the same thing. Explanations.
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The coronavirus is the family of the virus
Coronavirus is a generic term. The World Health Organization (WHO) recalls that coronaviruses are a family of many viruses that can cause a wide variety of diseases in humans.
This can range from the common cold to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which caused the death of 774 people between November 2002 and July 2003, or even to MERS, coronavirus of respiratory syndrome which has been raging in the Middle East since 2012. They are part crown viruses since when we observe their viral particles, we observe a crown that surrounds the virus.
Covid-19 is the disease
Co for corona (crown in Latin), vi for virus, d for disease (disease in English) and 19 as its year of appearance. Covid-19 is the respiratory infectious disease caused in humans by SARS-CoV-2. Its main symptoms are fever and cough, headache and muscle pain. Respiratory complications can appear in the most serious cases.
The incubation period, the period between contamination and the onset of the first symptoms, is generally 3 to 5 days. However, it can extend up to 14 days. Throughout this period, the infected person can be contagious. There is currently no Covid-19 vaccine.
SARS-CoV-2 is the scientific name
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the scientific name for this new coronavirus. While Covid-19 refers to the disease caused in humans, the term Sars-CoV-2 refers to the coronavirus itself.
Sras is an acronym for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Coronavirus CoV. The International Committee for the Taxonomy of Viruses has chosen the term Sars-CoV-2 to bring it together, in the collective consciousness, of Sars-CoV, at the origin of the SARS pandemic (774 deaths worldwide), family to which it belongs.
2019-nCov, it’s its old name
We can forget that one. 2019-nCov is the old name for Covid-19. It was used at the beginning of the epidemic but was quickly replaced. Again, 2019 was the year of discovery and CoV was short for Coronavirus. As for the n, it meant novelty.
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