In light of the recent, massive outbreak of Coronavirus (n-CoV) infection, Dr. Monish Raut puts together notes for doctors on what is known about the infection so far.

Coronaviruses (CoV) belong to a large family of viruses called as Coronaviridae. These are spherical in shapes with crown like projections on the surface. Symptoms of illness may vary from mild respiratory complaints to more severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV). They can transmit between animals and people.

The most recent outbreak in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China reported in December 2019, is caused by a novel coronavirus (nCoV). Interestingly, this new strain was not previously recognised in humans. Within the span of a month, cases have been reported from other countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, USA, and Japan.