S2 protein, Spike glycoprotein Subunit2, S glycoprotein Subunit2, Spike protein S2, COVID-19

On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) was alerted of an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan City, China, caused by an unknown virus. The virus was sequenced and identified as a novel strain of Coronavirus one week later on 7 January 2020. It belongs to the same family of viruses which include Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). 2019-nCoV is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus which is thought to be of zoonotic origin. Symptoms of those infected include fever, dry cough, fatigue, shortness of breath and respiratory distress. Additionally, cases have resulted in renal failure, pneumonia and death. Those most seriously affected are individuals with already impaired immune systems, however approximately one quarter of otherwise well patients have required intensive care upon hospital admission. Human-to-human transmission of the virus has been confirmed, with previous Coronavirus outbreaks (such as SARS) originating from similar environments in Asian markets, where humans and live animals are in close proximity.