SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The outbreak of a new coronavirus, first detected in Wuhan City, China, now has an official name.
In comments to the media on Tuesday, Feb. 11, World Health Organization (WHO) General Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced a name for coronavirus: COVID-19.
"Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing," he said during his remarks. "It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreaks."
COVID-19 stands for coronavirus disease 2019.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats and bats, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The center says it's rare for animal coronavirus to infect people and then spread between people such as with MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, and now with this new virus named SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.
WHO, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations developed the name based on best practices, according to health officials. The disease was previously referred to as 2019-nCoV, shorthand for novel (new) coronavirus found in 2019.
"We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease," the director general said.
Tracey Goldstein, professor in the UC Davis Department of Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology, said it's important to have an official name for the virus to curb misinformation.
"People may call a virus or disease by an incorrect name based on species or locations," Goldstein said. "If people think a virus comes from a particular location they may treat people from that area inappropriately."
As of Wednesday, Feb. 19, there are 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, according to the CDC. Health officials confirmed the first case of coronavirus in Napa County on Tuesday after a local hospital took in a patient from Travis Air Force Base after they were flown in from Japan.
Globally, there are 75,204 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to WHO.
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