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History of Coronaviruses: Why is it Important in the Context of COVID-19?
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Coronaviruses have been around since time immemorial. However, their relevance in the context of human diseases is relatively new, spanning hardly over half a century. In this short span of time, we’ve learned much about these viruses, but there is still much more to learn. It is said that “history repeats itself”. This adage can’t be more true than in the case of coronavirus outbreaks. History has taught us that epidemics, such as SARS and MERS are capable of threatening our lives repeatedly. And now, with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is causing devastation across the globe, history has again shown that it can repeat itself. The present review traces the history of coronaviruses from pre-biblical times till modern times and tries to put it in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords
History, coronavirus, SARS, MERS, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2.
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