Abstract

In the context of emerging diseases, an important tool to investigate the evolutionary history and viral origin from animals to humans consists in the phylogenetic analysis of molecular sequences of both nucleotides of the viral genome and amino acids, sharing into a common ancestor. In the twenty first century two other zoonotic coronaviruses were introduced, the SARS CoV and the MERS CoV, which differs from the new SARS CoV 2 while containing known viruses predominantly isolated from humans and several species of bats. The current outbreak of a corona virus associated acute respiratory disease called coronavirus disease 19 (COVID 19) has been designated «severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2» (SARS CoV 2) named based on phylogeny and the viral taxonomy among clusters to the prototype human and bat. As it occurs with other RNA viruses, high genetic variability leads to gene recombination in coronaviruses, because they have similar and non identical genome sequences generating variants of the same virus. The importance of strengthening epidemiological surveillance systems in the early diagnosis and adoption of preventive measures is paramount for controlling viral spread.

Keywords: Emerging diseases; Coronaviruses; Outbreak; RNA; SARS