Abstract
An outbreak of a respiratory disease with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) – like manifestations emerged in late December 2019 in the Wuhan city of China. The causative agent of this disease was later identified to be a novel Coronavirus. Subsequently, the disease was named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the World Health Organisation and later declared as a pandemic. The outbreak of COVID-19 came with many misinformation and misconceptions about viruses and the COVID-19 disease. Questions have been asked by non - virologists and the general public about what viruses are. Some wondered if viruses are living organisms or not. While some asked how big viruses are or if all viruses and the COVID-19 virus is artificially created. Yet others attributed the outbreak to the new quantum leap in the electromagnet field; the latest 5G technology. There are also concerns raised about the new virus being a bioweapon or an act of biowarfare. These numerous questions needed to be clarified concisely with available scientific knowledge. Thus, this review is providing answers to the 10 frequently asked questions aimed at informing the non - virologist in the academic field and beyond. Key words: Virus size, virus origin, giant viruses, synthetic viruses, SARS-Cov-2, bioweapon.
Highlights
African Journal of Microbiology ResearchThe causative agent of this disease was later identified to be a novel Coronavirus
Virology and viruses are an important and fascinating area of biology
(1) Questions regarding what a virus is (2) Questions regarding the origin of viruses (3) Questions regarding whether viruses are living organisms or not (4) Questions regarding the size of viruses (5) Questions regarding viral replication process (6) Questions regarding the difference between Coronavirus and COVID–19 (7) Questions regarding the available diagnostic kits for COVID -19 and whether they are produced only by China (8) Questions regarding whether viruses in general and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 in particular are man-made (9) Questions regarding the relationship between SARSCoV-2 and biological warfare? (10) Questions regarding the relationship between Electromagnetic waves (EMF) and virus epidemics
Summary
The causative agent of this disease was later identified to be a novel Coronavirus. The disease was named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the World Health Organisation and later declared as a pandemic. The outbreak of COVID-19 came with many misinformation and misconceptions about viruses and the COVID-19 disease. Questions have been asked by non - virologists and the general public about what viruses are. There are concerns raised about the new virus being a bioweapon or an act of biowarfare. These numerous questions needed to be clarified concisely with available scientific knowledge. This review is providing answers to the 10 frequently asked questions aimed at informing the non - virologist in the academic field and beyond
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