UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

Various kinds of fatal diseases have confronted humankind in past centuries. Appearance of coronavirus disease caused by coronavirus COVID-19 is new addition to the list of the deadly diseases linked with unseen enemies. Coronavirus was first discovered ninety years back as an agent causing acute respiratory infection in chickens. A strain of coronavirus that has ability to infect human being was discovered in the year 1960.  Various types of coronavirus have been shown to have a link with respiratory infections. An outbreak due to human coronavirus was identified in December 2019 from Wuhan, Hubei province of China. This pandemic, including India is now reported from 212 countries of the world with 4,026,838 cases confirming the presence of the coronavirus (as reported on May 09, 2020, 05:15 GMT). A closer look in to the reported cases present a deeper picture of the pandemic. Initial reports from China suggested it having 82,887 cases. France, Italy and Spain are with 176,079, 217,185 and 260,117 cases respectively.  Largest number of cases is reported from United States of America, which is now having 30.54% of all the cases reported. This data speaks volumes about the nature of the coronavirus particularly its cellular pathogenesis, tissue tropism, portal of entry, replication at the entry site, dissemination, incubation, multiplication and shedding of this virus. As of now, Europe is the severely affected part of the world due to coronavirus. Other countries of the world are not immune to this pandemic. Breakneck research dedicated for the development of potent drug and effective vaccines is underway with varying degree of potency claims. It is not possible to present the complete aspects of coronavirus and its associated developments; the aim of this short communication is to present a bird eye view of the currents status of this pandemic from India.