About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

GAO-20-472SP 1 (2020-03-03)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaeasg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Science, Technology Assessment, GAO Iand Analytics SCIENCE & TECH SPOTLIGHT: CORONAVIRUSES What is it? While the outbreak of COVID-19 in China has brought the term coronavirus into daily usage, coronaviruses can vary in severity. They can cause respiratory issues, such as pneumonia, and are believed to be one cause of the common cold. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most people will be infected by a coronavirus at some point in their lifetimes. As of March 2020, seven coronaviruses have been identified that can cause illness in humans. Most infections result in mild to moderate symptoms, such as runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, fever, and a run-down feeling. Coronaviruses are most commonly transmitted by coughing, sneezing, person-to-person contact, and touching objects that have viral particles on them, according to CDC. The best prevention is washing hands with soap and avoiding contact with people who are sick or work in quarantine areas. Current treatment methods are limited, and research is being fast-tracked to develop a vaccine against existing and emerging coronaviruses. Recent high-profile coronavirus outbreaks have raised new concern because of high mortality rates relative to the coronaviruses that cause the common cold. In addition, the severe coronaviruses can cause both upper- and lower-respiratory-tract infections, including pneumonia. Since 2002, there have been three severe outbreaks of respiratory illness caused by coronaviruses, all three originating in animals. In 2002, an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) began in China and had a mortality rate of approximately 10 percent. In 2012, an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) had a mortality rate reported as high as 34 percent. Most recently, a December 2019 outbreak of a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2-which causes COVID-19- Sources (left to right): National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alissa Eckert, Dan Higgins. I GAO-20-472SP Electron microscope image and schematic of coronavirus particles (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus and general coronavirus respectively). has seen a high infection rate, with over 70,000 infected and over 2,600 deaths-a mortality rate of approximately 3 percent as of February 24th, 2020, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Estimates of the reproductive ratio, or R0, for COVID-19 have also indicated that it has the potential to spread rapidly. These estimates are tentative, however, because the R, is a complex epidemiologic measure that is context-specific and affected by numerous biological, behavioral, and environmental factors. How does it work? Coronaviruses are believed to work in similar ways. Viral particles attach themselves to specific molecules, known as receptors, on the surface of a human or animal cell, allowing the virus to enter. Once inside, the virus discards its outer coating, releasing its genetic material into the host cell. This can occur in many cells at the same time. The virus can then use the cell's own mechanisms-for example, the mechanism to produce proteins based on genetic code-to replicate itself. The hijacking of the cell's functions causes the release of new viral particles and restarting the process, either in more cells of the same host or in another host that becomes infected. Coronavirus releases content into the host cell cytoplasm Newly formed Coronavirus Coronavirus uses coronaviruses replicates inside host cell to create leave host cell host cell new viral contents Source: GAO adaptation of Fenner's Veterinary Virology edited by N. James MacLachlan and Edward J. Dubovi. I GAO-20-472SP _. Schematic of how a coronavirus infects host cells. This process is similar for all RNA viruses, the large class to which coronaviruses belong. Coronaviruses mutate rapidly compared to other viruses, enabling them to adapt to new environments. Coronaviruses are ribonucleic acid (RNA) viruses, which are more prone to random mutations than deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) viruses. Because DNA viruses, like chickenpox and many others, are more stable, it is easier to create long term effective vaccines against them. In contrast, RNA viruses, like flu, may regularly require new vaccines. GAO-20-472SP Coronaviruses

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most