Chapter 2 - Lesson learned from coronaviruses (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2) and socioeconomic impact of (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic

Abstract

Infections and infectious diseases are inevitable, and we have experienced a series of viral outbreaks in the last two decades. Earlier in 1918, the influenza pandemic has completely changed the healthcare system and daily life. The episode of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2003 and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) less than ten years later highlights the significant threat of coronaviruses to humans and confirms that the SARS outbreak was not an isolated incident. With the ever-increasing diversity of animal coronavirus species, especially within bats, the likelihood of recombination leading to future outbreaks is high, and the threat of potential pandemics is real as highly pathogenic coronaviruses continue to spill over from zoonotic sources into the human population. The SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and the ongoing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are the virulent pathogens that have crossed the species barrier from animals to humans and have associated disease severity and higher mortality. Nevertheless, the zoonotic spillover represents a global concern of public health burden associated with high morbidity and mortality. However, in this coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, the SARS-CoV-2 spillover events are linked to humans as accumulating evidence indicates the virus transmission by humans and establishing a person-to-person transmission chain. Given the high contagiousness and stability of the SARS-CoV-2 in the environment, it may lead to adaptation of the virus to the human host and poses the risk of sustained potential human-to-human transmission. These viral outbreaks have entirely changed human lives and responses to public health. COVID-19 pandemic opened new avenues of drug and vaccine development. The pandemic widely affected human lives, including trade, food, agriculture, education, and healthcare. The public healthcare system collapsed during pandemics across the globe and primarily due to a halt in global trade and the supply of medical utilities. The COVID-19 is not only a viral outbreak but also a failure of the healthcare system in developing and developed countries as well. The global health responses were unprecedented such as in vaccine development. COVID-19 pandemic also taught how an imbalance between human-animal habitats might turn into a nightmare.