SARS-CoV-2 Virology Core

National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases

Investigators

Abstract

Viruses of the Coronaviridae family are enveloped viruses that possess a large (30kb), single-stranded, positive sense, RNA genome that infect a large number of mammals (alpha and beta coronaviruses) and birds (gamma coronaviruses). Four different seasonal coronaviruses (two alpha coronaviruses, 229E and NL63, and two beta coronaviruses, OC43 and HKU1) circulate in humans worldwide. The consequences of these infections, the common cold, are generally benign, but pneumonia with severe complications may occur in children, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals. However, as many animal species harbor unique coronaviruses, a jump from animal to humans can occur and may result in persistent circulation in the human population. In the past 18 years, three major zoonotic outbreaks linked to coronaviruses have occurred resulting in significant mortality and morbidity. Between 2002 and 2004, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infected more than 8,000 people in 29 countries with a case fatality rate of 11%. SARS circulated in bats, jumped to civets, and was then transmitted to humans. The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS) was first detected in a cluster of cases in the Arabian peninsula in 2012 and subsequently spread to 27 countries. More than 2,500 people were infected, resulting in 866 deaths. Like SARS, Camels serve as the animal reservoir for MERS and remain a source for human infections. The explosive emergence of SARS-CoV-2, continues to present an enormous threat to public health. In mid-December 2019, a new respiratory disease named COVID-19 was identified in patients in the city of Wuhan (Hubei province, China). COVID-19 is characterized by a variety of symptoms including fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, myalgia, fatigue, headache, loss of smell and taste, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. In 10-20% of cases, the disease can lead to serious clinical complications requiring hospitalization and intubation for respiratory support. Rapid spread across the globe occurred thereafter. As of August 2021, there have been more than 210,224,392 cases resulting in at least 4,407,196 deaths worldwide. Countermeasures are urgently required. In support of the biomedical response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Division of Intramural Research of the National institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases created an intramural core facility to support high-containment research on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. This project describes the activities of this facility.