TY - JOUR TI - COVID-19: The first documented coronavirus pandemic in history AU - Yen-Chin Liu AU - Rei-Lin Kuo AU - Shin-Ru Shih T2 - Biomedical Journal AB - The novel human coronavirus disease COVID-19 has become the fifth documented pandemic since the 1918 flu pandemic. COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, and subsequently spread worldwide. The coronavirus was officially named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses based on phylogenetic analysis. SARS-CoV-2 is believed to be a spillover of an animal coronavirus and later adapted the ability of human-to-human transmission. Because the virus is highly contagious, it rapidly spreads and continuously evolves in the human population. In this review article, we discuss the basic properties, potential origin, and evolution of the novel human coronavirus. These factors may be critical for studies of pathogenicity, antiviral designs, and vaccine development against the virus. DA - 2020/08// PY - 2020 DO - 10.1016/j.bj.2020.04.007 DP - DOI.org (Crossref) VL - 43 IS - 4 SP - 328 EP - 333 J2 - Biomedical Journal LA - en SN - 23194170 ST - COVID-19 UR - https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2319417020300445 Y2 - 2022/03/16/12:31:02 ER -