Related Articles Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 SARS CoV 2 and coronavirus disease 2019 COVID 19 The epidemic and the challenges Int J Antimicrob Agents 2020 Mar 55 3 105924 Authors Lai CC Shih TP Ko WC Tang HJ Hsueh PR Abstract The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 SARS CoV 2 previously provisionally named 2019 novel coronavirus or 2019 nCoV disease COVID 19 in China at the end of 2019 has caused a large global outbreak and is a major public health issue As of 11 February 2020 data from the World Health Organization WHO have shown that more than 43 000 confirmed cases have been identified in 28 countries regions with 99 of cases being detected in China On 30 January 2020 the WHO declared COVID 19 as the sixth public health emergency of international concern SARS CoV 2 is closely related to two bat derived severe acute respiratory syndrome like coronaviruses bat SL CoVZC45 and bat SL CoVZXC21 It is spread by human to human transmission via droplets or direct contact and infection has been estimated to have mean incubation period of 6 4 days and a basic reproduction number of 2 24 3 58 Among patients with pneumonia caused by SARS CoV 2 novel coronavirus pneumonia or Wuhan pneumonia fever was the most common symptom followed by cough Bilateral lung involvement with ground glass opacity was the most common finding from computed tomography images of the chest The one case of SARS CoV 2 pneumonia in the USA is responding well to remdesivir which is now undergoing a clinical trial in China Currently controlling infection to prevent the spread of SARS CoV 2 is the primary intervention being used However public health authorities should keep monitoring the situation closely as the more we can learn about this novel virus and its associated outbreak the better we can respond PMID 32081636 PubMed indexed for MEDLINE