The ACE2 mRNA is present in almost all human organs. (1) The authors showed co-localization of the fluorescently stained viruses with cells that express the ACE2 receptor from Chinese horseshoe bats, pigs, humans, and civets, but not from mice.
conducted infectivity studies by incubating SARS-CoV-2 with HeLa cells of differential ACE2 receptor expression.
SARS-CoV-2 appears to interact with the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor for entry into cells. Asymptomatic individuals are as infectious as symptomatic individuals and are therefore capable of further spreading the disease. (5) From the Diamond Princess cruise ship case study, an estimate of 17.9% of asymptomatic cases were reported. It is suspected that the total number of reported COVID-19 infections is underestimated, as there are many mild or asymptomatic cases that go undetected. As of April 2, 2020, the disease has spread to at least 202 countries, infected over 1 million people, and resulted in at least 45,526 deaths globally. (1,4) The novel coronavirus was named SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen causing COVID-19. It was discovered that this new pathogen had ∼80%, ∼50%, and ∼96% similarity to the genome of the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome virus (MERS-CoV), and bat coronavirus RaTG13, respectively. (1) By January 10, 2020, samples from patients’ bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid were analyzed to reveal a pathogen with a similar genetic sequence to the betacoronavirus B lineage. Additional nucleic acid analysis using multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of known pathogen panels led to negative results, suggesting that the cause of pneumonia was of unknown origin. (3) This finding led to the initial diagnosis of pneumonia. (2) Patients were scanned using computed tomography (CT), which revealed varied opacities (denser, more profuse, and confluent) in comparison to images of healthy lungs. (1) A cluster of patients were admitted with fever, cough, shortness of breath, and other symptoms. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was discovered in Hubei Province, China in December 2019.
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