What’s the difference between

SARS and COVID-19?

• Both COVID-19 and SARS are caused by
coronaviruses.
• The virus that causes SARS is known as
SARS-CoV, while the virus that causes
COVID-19 is known as SARS-CoV-2.
 What’s the difference between
SARS and COVID-19?
• Despite their similar name, there are several
differences between the coronaviruses that
cause COVID-19 and SARS.
 What is a coronavirus?
• Coronaviruses are a very diverse family of
viruses. They have a large host range, which
includes humans. However, the greatest
amount of coronavirus diversity is seen in
bats.
 What is a coronavirus?
• Coronaviruses have spiky projections on
their surface that look like crowns.
• Corona means “crown” in Latin — and that’s
how this family of viruses got their name.
 What is a coronavirus?
• Most of the time, human coronaviruses cause
mild respiratory illnesses like the common cold.
• new types of coronavirus can emerge when an animal
coronavirus develops the ability to transmit a disease
to humans.
• Which is called zoonotic transmission.
 What is a SARS?
• (severe acute respiratory syndrome)
• The origin of SARS-CoV is thought to be bats. It’s
believed that the virus passed from bats to an
intermediate animal host, the civet cat, before jumping
to humans.
• Bats > Civet Cats > Humans
How does COVID-19 differ from SARS
• COVID-19 and SARS are similar in many ways. For example, both:
• are respiratory illnesses caused by coronaviruses
• are believedTrusted Source to have originated in bats, jumping to humans via an intermediate
animal host
• are spread by respiratory droplets produced when a person with the virus coughs or sneezes,
or by contact with contaminated objects or surfaces
• have similar stability in the air and on various surfaces
• can lead to potentially serious illness, sometimes requiring oxygen or mechanical ventilation
• can have worseningTrusted Source symptoms later on in the illness
• have similar at-risk groups, such as older adults and those with underlying health conditions
• have no specific treatments or vaccines
How does COVID-19 differ from SARS
• COVID-19 and SARS are similar in many ways. For example, both:
• are respiratory illnesses caused by coronaviruses
• are believed to have originated in bats, jumping to humans via an intermediate animal host
• are spread by respiratory droplets produced when a person with the virus coughs or sneezes,
or by contact with contaminated objects or surfaces
• have similar stability in the air and on various surfaces
• can lead to potentially serious illness, sometimes requiring oxygen or mechanical ventilation
• can have worsening symptoms later on in the illness
• have similar at-risk groups, such as older adults and those with underlying health conditions
• have no specific treatments or vaccines
How does COVID-19 differ from SARS
• Transmission
• COVID-19 appears to transmit more easily than SARS. One possible
explanation is that the amount of virus, or viral load, appears to be highest in
the nose and throat of people with COVID-19 shortly after symptoms develop.

• This is in contrast to SARS, in which viral loads peaked much later in the
illness. This indicates that people with COVID-19 may be transmitting the
virus earlier in the course of the infection, just as their symptoms are
developing, but before they begin to worsen.
How does COVID-19 differ from SARS
• Molecular factors
• A recent study of the complete genetic information (genome) of SARS-CoV-2 samples
found that the virus was more closely related to bat coronaviruses than the SARS
virus. The new coronavirus has a 79 percent genetic similarity to the SARS virus.

• The receptor binding site of SARS-CoV-2 was also compared to other coronaviruses.
Remember that to enter a cell, a virus needs to interact with proteins on the cell’s
surface (receptors). The virus does this via proteins on its own surface.

• When the protein sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding site was analyzed, an
interesting result was found. While SARS-CoV-2 is overall more similar to bat
coronaviruses, the receptor binding site was more similar to SARS-CoV.
END