a. What is SARS-CoV-2?
1) Describe the virus and its structure.
2) Describe how it infects and replicates in the body (consider ACE and/or how viruses use host machinery to replicate themselves)?
3) What is the difference between SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19?
4) Is it the same as the flu? Why or why not?
b. Transmission:
1) What does transmission mean with regard to infectious diseases?
2) What is/are the route(s) of transmission for coronavirus?
3) What does the term transmission rate (R0, pronounced “R naught”) mean in epidemiology?
4) Compare R0 for coronavirus with that of other common illnesses (for example, influenza, measles, polio, Ebola) and explain what this means about how transmissible coronavirus is compared to other diseases.
5) What are the best ways to prevent transmission of coronavirus?
6) Additional resources may be found at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
c. Where did coronavirus come from?
1) What is meant by host species of a virus?
2) What is a zoonotic disease?
3) How are they spread?
4) What is spillover?
5) Define reservoir, host, and intermediate host in regard to zoonotic diseases.
6) What do scientists think are the most likely reservoirs or intermediate hosts for coronavirus? Do scientists know for sure?
7) How could humans increase the likelihood of zoonotic disease transmission to humans?
d. COVID-19 Treatment
1) Are there any FDA-approved medical treatments for COVID-19 (i.e., ones that are not in the experimental or clinical trials stages but have been “proven” effective)?
2) What are some of the possible medical treatments that are being considered?
e. COVID-19 Vaccines
1) What vaccines have been approved for the prevention of COVID-19? What vaccines are in clinical trials?
2) Describe the technology underlying these vaccines (for example, virus, viral vector, DNA-based, RNA-based, etc.) and how that type of vaccine works.