A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019

Overview

Journal N Engl J Med

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2020 Jan 25

PMID 31978945

Citations 13620

Authors

Na Zhu

Dingyu Zhang

Wenling Wang

Xingwang Li

Bo Yang

Jingdong Song

Xiang Zhao

Baoying Huang

Weifeng Shi

Roujian Lu

Peihua Niu

Faxian Zhan

Xuejun Ma

Dayan Wang

Wenbo Xu

Guizhen Wu

George F Gao

Wenjie Tan

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In December 2019, a cluster of patients with pneumonia of unknown cause was linked to a seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, China. A previously unknown betacoronavirus was discovered through the use of unbiased sequencing in samples from patients with pneumonia. Human airway epithelial cells were used to isolate a novel coronavirus, named 2019-nCoV, which formed a clade within the subgenus sarbecovirus, Orthocoronavirinae subfamily. Different from both MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, 2019-nCoV is the seventh member of the family of coronaviruses that infect humans. Enhanced surveillance and further investigation are ongoing. (Funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China and the National Major Project for Control and Prevention of Infectious Disease in China.).

Citing Articles

A single-nucleus and spatial transcriptomic atlas of the COVID-19 liver reveals topological, functional, and regenerative organ disruption in patients.

Pita-Juarez Y, Karagkouni D, Kalavros N, Melms J, Niezen S, Delorey T Genome Biol. 2025; 26(1):56.

PMID: 40087773 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-025-03499-5.

Rapid generation and characterization of recombinant HCoV-OC43-VR1558 infectious clones expressing reporter Renilla luciferase.

Ye F, Wang N, Guan Q, Wang M, Sun J, Zhai D Biosaf Health. 2025; 6(6):350-360.

PMID: 40078980 PMC: 11894994. DOI: 10.1016/j.bsheal.2024.11.006.

Malabaricone C isolated from edible plants as a potential inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Mutmainah , Murai Y, Fujimoto A, Kawamura R, Kitamura A, Koolath S Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):8518.

PMID: 40074774 PMC: 11903690. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-83633-8.

Identification and mechanism analysis of biomarkers related to butyrate metabolism in COVID-19 patients.

Zhou W, Li H, Zhang J, Liu C, Liu D, Chen X Ann Med. 2025; 57(1):2477301.

PMID: 40074706 PMC: 11905318. DOI: 10.1080/07853890.2025.2477301.

Geographic inequalities and factors associated with unfavorable outcomes in diabetes-tuberculosis and diabetes-covid comorbidities in Brazil.

Alves L, Berra T, Alves Y, Ferezin L, Vinci A, Tavares R Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):8353.

PMID: 40069306 PMC: 11897301. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-93476-6.

References

Ksiazek T, Erdman D, Goldsmith C, Zaki S, Peret T, Emery S . A novel coronavirus associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2003; 348(20):1953-66. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa030781. View

Jonsdottir H, Dijkman R . Coronaviruses and the human airway: a universal system for virus-host interaction studies. Virol J. 2016; 13:24. PMC: 4744394. DOI: 10.1186/s12985-016-0479-5. View

Wong G, Liu W, Liu Y, Zhou B, Bi Y, Gao G . MERS, SARS, and Ebola: The Role of Super-Spreaders in Infectious Disease. Cell Host Microbe. 2015; 18(4):398-401. PMC: 7128246. DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2015.09.013. View

Zaki A, van Boheemen S, Bestebroer T, Osterhaus A, Fouchier R . Isolation of a novel coronavirus from a man with pneumonia in Saudi Arabia. N Engl J Med. 2012; 367(19):1814-20. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1211721. View

Drosten C, Gunther S, Preiser W, van der Werf S, Brodt H, Becker S . Identification of a novel coronavirus in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2003; 348(20):1967-76. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa030747. View

Weiss S, Leibowitz J . Coronavirus pathogenesis. Adv Virus Res. 2011; 81:85-164. PMC: 7149603. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-385885-6.00009-2. View

Cui J, Li F, Shi Z . Origin and evolution of pathogenic coronaviruses. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2018; 17(3):181-192. PMC: 7097006. DOI: 10.1038/s41579-018-0118-9. View

Tan W, Zhao X, Ma X, Wang W, Niu P, Xu W . A Novel Coronavirus Genome Identified in a Cluster of Pneumonia Cases - Wuhan, China 2019-2020. China CDC Wkly. 2021; 2(4):61-62. PMC: 8393069. View

Palacios G, Druce J, Du L, Tran T, Birch C, Briese T . A new arenavirus in a cluster of fatal transplant-associated diseases. N Engl J Med. 2008; 358(10):991-8. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa073785. View

10.

Gao G . From "A"IV to "Z"IKV: Attacks from Emerging and Re-emerging Pathogens. Cell. 2018; 172(6):1157-1159. PMC: 7126677. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.02.025. View

11.

Armstrong G, MacCannell D, Taylor J, Carleton H, Neuhaus E, Bradbury R . Pathogen Genomics in Public Health. N Engl J Med. 2019; 381(26):2569-2580. PMC: 7008580. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsr1813907. View

12.

Liu G, Li H, Zhao S, Lu R, Niu P, Tan W . Viral and Bacterial Etiology of Acute Febrile Respiratory Syndrome among Patients in Qinghai, China. Biomed Environ Sci. 2019; 32(6):438-445. PMC: 7135780. DOI: 10.3967/bes2019.058. View

13.

Su S, Wong G, Shi W, Liu J, Lai A, Zhou J . Epidemiology, Genetic Recombination, and Pathogenesis of Coronaviruses. Trends Microbiol. 2016; 24(6):490-502. PMC: 7125511. DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2016.03.003. View

14.

Zhong N, Zheng B, Li Y, Poon , Xie Z, Chan K . Epidemiology and cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Guangdong, People's Republic of China, in February, 2003. Lancet. 2003; 362(9393):1353-8. PMC: 7112415. DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(03)14630-2. View