| Summary: | The world has experienced several epidemics posing serious threat to global public health, including the 2002 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic that caused 800 deaths out of about 8 000 cases, the 2009 H1N1 pandemic with 18 500 deaths, the 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) epidemic that caused 800 deaths out of 2 500 cases, the 2014 Ebola outbreak with 28 616 cases and 11 310 deaths, and the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic with more than 35 000 deaths out of over 730 000 confirmed cases till now. Emerging infectious diseases continue to infect and reduce human populations. The COVID-19 pandemic has spread to more than 114 countries before it was officially declared as a pandemic by the WHO on the 11th March 2020. Here, the first set of index cases in Africa, and the differences between SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses in addition to the preventive strategies on the emergence of COVID-19 were reviewed.
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