A Narrative Literature Review of Global Pandemic Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Epidemiology, Virology, Potential Drug Treatments Available

Abstract

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are the largest group of viruses belonging to the Nidovirales order, which includes Coronaviridae, Arteriviridae, Mesoniviridae and Roniviridae families. Coronavirus virion are circular with a diameter of nearly 125 nm. Its most conspicuous characteristic of coronaviruses is the club-shaped spiked projections originating from the surface of the virion. Such spikes are a definite characteristic of the virion and give them a solar corona appearance leading the term coronaviruses [1]. Coronaviridae covers a broad range of host & carriers, infecting many mammalian & avian species/subspecies, this may affect the upper respiratory, gastrointestinal, hepatic and central nervous system via a number of diseases [2]. SARS-CoV, group 2b-β coronavirus, was detected as the potential cause of the 2002-2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the Guangdong Province of China. In a cluster of highly pathogenic respiratory tract infections in Saudi Arabia and other Countries in the middle east throughout 2012, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-CoV (MERS-CoV), was found to be the potential cause is an example of another novel human CoV [3]. On 31 December 2019, the Wuhan Health Commission in the Republic of China's Hubei Province notified the National Health Commission, China CDC and the WHO of a series of 27 cases of unexplained etiological pneumonia. Leaks have been predominantly tracked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, that trades fish and a myriad of livestock species comprising chickens, bats, marmots and snakes [4]. By January 7th, 2020 Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention officials had isolated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV- 2). On 11 February, WHO officially named the disease as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) [5]. The World Health Organization (WHO) also announced a global emergency on January 31st due to increasing concern about its rapid expansion and the disease became listed as a pandemic by March 11th.