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. 2020 Sep 18:11:583252.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.583252. eCollection 2020.

Viruses That Can and Cannot Coexist With Humans and the Future of SARS-CoV-2

Yuki Furuse  1   2 , Hitoshi Oshitani  3
Affiliations

Viruses That Can and Cannot Coexist With Humans and the Future of SARS-CoV-2

Yuki Furuse et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a worldwide pandemic. Many projections concerning the outbreak, such as the estimated number of cases and deaths in upcoming months, have been made available. However, what happens to the virus after the pandemic subsides has not been fully explored. In this article, we discuss the ways that past and present human viruses have emerged via zoonotic transmission, the mechanisms that they have acquired the ability for effective transmission among humans, the process to sustain a chain of transmission to coexist with humans, and the factors important for complete containment leading to eradication of viruses. These aspects of viral disease may provide clues for the future path that SARS-CoV-2 might take in relation to human infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; epidemiology; evolution; transmission; zoonosis.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Viruses that cannot coexist and that have coexisted with humans. The figure illustrates schematic overview of the history of emergence, adaptation, transmission, and consequence of viruses.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Factors responsible for sustained transmission and containment/eradication of viruses. Deeper blue colors indicate more adapted characteristics for sustained transmission in humans, and deeper red colors indicate more favorable features for containment/eradication of viruses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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