And it decided to call the illness caused by this virus COVID-19.

That was just one aspect of the confusion.

Another was that the original 2003 virus was also a coronavirus and was known as SARS-CoV. It caused the disease known as SARS.

So, the first SARS virus caused the disease SARS and, rather than saying the second SARS virus caused SARS-2, the disease was called COVID- 19.

Why? Because WHO decided to uncouple the name of the disease and the name of the virus to create a clear distinction between them.

Viruses, and the diseases they cause, often have different names, such as HIV being the virus that causes AIDS.

While people often know the name of a disease, such as measles, they don’t know the name of the virus that causes it – rubeola.

But there was still more confusion to navigate.


The name SARS-CoV-2 was chosen for the virus because it is closely related genetically to viruses in a species with the prototype SARS-CoV.

The aim of calling the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 was to reflect a genetic rather than a clinical disease-based relationship with the founder.

While the two have evolutionary links, they appear to have different disease traits and transmission.

All this is explained in the journal Nature Microbiology, with the authors proposing that the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 should be considered completely independent from the SARS-CoV outbreak in 2003.

The paper describes the process involved in naming viruses, identifies potential causes of confusion and highlights the importance of careful characterisation of emerging viruses.

SARS-CoV-19 received its name from the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), which was following the established practice for classification of a new virus by assessing its genetic relation to known viruses.

There are currently 39 recognised and 10 tentative coronavirus species, many containing dozens or even hundreds of different viruses.


The SARS-related coronavirus species contains hundreds of known viruses, predominantly isolated from humans and bats, all of which have their names derived from SARS-CoV.

Viruses are named by the ICTV based on their genetic structure to facilitate the development of diagnostic tests, vaccines and medicines.

WHO names diseases to enable discussion on their prevention, spread, transmissibility, severity and treatment.

So, although SARS-CoV-19 causes COVID-19, most people are simply calling it the new coronavirus.