TOWARD THE STUDY OF ETIOLOGIC AND EPIDEMIOLOGIC CHARACTERISTICS OF A NEW CORONAVIRUS INFECTION (COVID-19) IN THE WORLD

Abstract

To date, more than two hundred viruses causing respiratory infections in humans have been discovered and studied. At the same time, the emergence of pathogens is, firstly, a natural process that reflects the natural course of biological evolution, and, secondly, the result of active development of molecular diagnostic methods. Most newly discovered pathogens are represented by viruses [1, 2, 3, 16]. The etiologic spectrum of acute respiratory viral infections has been expanded due to the "newest" viruses discovered at the beginning of the 21st century. Such pathogens include the new coronavirus [3,4,6].