Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)/SARS-CoV-2: Hopefully, the Human-Virus Battle Ends Soon on a Positive Note Venkataramana Kandi *Corresponding author Dr. Venkataramana Kandi Associate Professor of Microbiology, Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, Telangana, India ramana_20021@rediffmail.com, ramana20021@gmail.com Abstract The emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases are not uncommon to humans. We have been seeing this, repeated many a time in the past, that the new/novel microbial species emerge and pose a potential threat to the whole of mankind. Among those infectious diseases which threatened mankind, the Smallpox virus appears to have had the greatest impact. Smallpox virus was suspected to be present on the earth since 10,000 B.C., but its presence and the effect on humans was established only in the late 18th century to the early 20th century when people suffered from its consequences. Most people (>75%) infected with smallpox died, leaving a sense of doom among humans. Later, or probably during the same time, there was the emergence of an infectious disease called “plague”, which swept across many countries and caused a lot of mortality. This disease was also called the black death, due to the nature of lesions caused and the thousands of people who were dying in very less time. We have also seen the emergence of a novel influenza virus, the Spanish flu (1918) which caused a severe pandemic. Interestingly, all these infectious diseases caused pandemics involving several countries, and causing increased mortality, especially in the European continent. In this editorial I discuss the significance of the most recent pandemic caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV- 2), also called Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Key words: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus- 2 (SARS-CoV-2), COVID-19, emergence, re-emergence, infectious diseases, Pandemic Introduction The recent emergence of a novel Coronavirus, now named as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is just another microbial species that have been added new to the list of notorious microbes which had emerged to infect the humans for the first time [1]. The SARS-CoV-2 Editorial 1 belongs to the family of CoVs, which have been known to exist both in the animals and humans. Few CoVs are responsible for the frequent and seasonal episodes of cold in humans. The CoVs, because of their wide host adaptability have been able to establish themselves in the environment. Currently, there are seven recognized human CoVs (HCoVs) that have been associated with human infections. Barring the SARS- CoV (emerged in China, caused pandemic from 2002-2003), and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-CoV (emerged in Saudi Arabia, caused a pandemic in 2012), and the SARS-CoV- 2 (2019-?), which resulted in severe and life-threatening infections, other HCoVs have only been associated with mild and self-limiting infections in humans. The emergence and re-emergence of microbial species are not new to the world as evidenced by our previous experiences with the Influenza virus, the Chikungunya virus, the Dengue virus, the Ebola virus, the Zika virus, and many others. Most emergences of novel microbial species have been associated with the ability of the microbe to survive in different animal species and to undergo genetic recombination. The emergence of novel microbial species might also happen when some microbes which exclusively cause animal infections, spill into the humans either by accident or by abnormal human behaviors, which include moving into the wild, rearing exotic animals, and consuming wild animals’ meat. Interestingly, most microbial emergences in the last two decades have had a zoonotic source and include SARS-CoV-2 (Bats/Pangolins/other animals), SARS-CoV (Bats/civet cats, and other animals), MERS- CoV (dromedary Camels), , Influenza (birds, swine, and other animals), Ebola (fruit bats, monkeys, and other wild animals), and Zika virus (monkeys, Aedes mosquito). The potential mechanism behind the emergence of novel microbial species is shown in