No, Coronavirus Is Not Related To Corona Beer, But People Are Still Googling It!

A new strain of novel virus is on the spread and so far, has infected more than 4500 people in China, killing more than 100 in the process. With its origin being marked to Wuhan province in China, the virus is being known by the name of Wuhan Coronavirus. That, however, is a name that might be changed soon for a surprising reason nonetheless, people are confusing it with Corona beer!

So let us address this confusion first by knowing how the virus actually got its name. The strain of the virus slowly spreading to other nations is a novel one. It means that the virus has not been identified previously. In such a case, an important liability is to come up with a new name for the virus, which usually lies with the scientists who first isolate such a new virus. Traditionally, the name is proposed to a study group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses which then takes a call on the name.

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Since that committee will be meeting in May next, it has not yet decided on an official name for the virus. Needless to say, the name Coronavirus has not been coined by an official committee. Still, it has a backdrop as to how the name came into being.

The strain of virus in question, when viewed under a microscope, appears to have a crown-like structure to it. With a Latin cue for that structure, the ¡°crowned¡± virus was named Coronavirus. Couple to that the place of its origin and we know the reason for the name ¡®Wuhan Coronavirus¡¯, which is being abbreviated to ¡®NCoV¡¯.

Coronavirus as seen under a microscope (Image: Reuters)

Earlier examples

Fact of the matter is, naming of any novel virus involves the World Health Organisation at some level or the other. Examples of this can be taken from the SARS and MERS viruses that plagued the citizens of several countries in past years. The common practice is to form a recognisable abbreviation based on the symptoms of the disease caused by the virus. AIDS and HIV are also prominent examples of the same.

That, however, is not a fixed practice. Ebola, for instance, got its name from a river flowing near the region of Yambuku where the virus was first discovered back in 1976. So it won¡¯t be surprising if the the new-found virus in China is named Wuhan Coronovirus. After all, the earlier WHO was able to come up with the name SARS within a fortnight of the first reports of the virus. If the Coronavirus had to be named by the entity, it should have been done by then.

Either ways, it is not easy to forget the name ¡®Corona¡¯ so for public awareness and efforts towards addressing the specific virus, even the present name works for most parts of it. The only strange part is the resemblance to one of the most loved beverages. Which brings us to a classic screw-up being observed in some parts, a confusion between Coronavirus and Corona beer.

The classic mix-up

Since the Coronavirus has gained mainstream attention, people have started searching for Corona beer in relation to the virus on Google. Search terms like 'beer virus' and 'Corona beer virus' have been trending on the search engine. While we are not sure what the people were expecting while making such searches, an easy guess would be a mix-up in the names leading to a thought possibility - is the virus spreading through the much loved beer?

Corona Beer search is trending on Google since the past few days.

If that's the case, Charlie Sheen would have been very sick by now.

Fortunately for him and for us, the two have no connection whatsoever. Apart from the name, of course.

To read all about the current developments, spread and symptoms of the Corona virus, click here.