COVID-19: a new challenge for human beings

Since December 2019, just a month before the Chinese Spring Festival, multiple cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology appeared in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Later, a novel coronavirus was identified in a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid sample from the Wuhan Seafood Market using metagenomic next-generation sequencing technology. On February 11, 2020, the virus was named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). The unprecedented number of COVID-19 cases not only in China but also in many countries has triggered the alarm for public health to respond to emerging and reemerging diseases. A comprehensive strategy, including surveillance, diagnostics, clinical treatment, research, and development of vaccines and drugs, is urgently needed to win the battle against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.