# Why not call it SARS-2? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 28, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-call-it-sars-2/850539 "2020-03-28T21:46:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaverocK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@MaverocK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaverocK)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-call-it-sars-2/850539/1 "2020-03-28T21:46:37Z")
SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 are both corona viruses. When the SARS outbreak first happened in early 2000s, they called it SARS outbreak and called the virus SARS virus. Now, pretty much everyone (newspapers, articles, medical doctors on media etc.) calls SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. It makes sense to call it coronavirus but: 1.) Why did they not call it back in 2002-2003 coronovirus? It was SARS back then. 2.) If it was called SARS, why now change it to coronovirus? My take on this is that they did not want to call it SARS-2 because the word SARS could create panic. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-call-it-sars-2/850539/2 "2020-03-28T21:47:30Z")
Has the C0V virus even been mapped yet? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-call-it-sars-2/850539/3 "2020-03-28T21:59:38Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Has the C0V virus even been mapped yet? Do you mean has the genome been sequenced? Yes. > **[How Genetic Mapping Is Allowing Scientists To Track The Spread Of Coronavirus](https://www.npr.org/2020/03/19/818518719/how-genetic-mapping-is-allowing-scientists-to-track-the-spread-of-coronavirus)** > > Scientists are using genetic sequences of the coronavirus to learn where and how it is spreading. The approach relies on technology that didn't exist just a few years ago. > [@](#): > > HAMILTON: Now sequences can be done in days. And scientists have already shared more than 700 coronavirus genomes from around the world. Andersen says genomic information was especially important early on. For example, the first thing doctors in China needed to know was what was making people sick ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-call-it-sars-2/850539/4 "2020-03-28T23:03:33Z")
> [@MaverocK](#): > > 1.) Why did they not call it back in 2002-2003 coronovirus? It was SARS back then. > 2.) If it was called SARS, why now change it to coronovirus? > > My take on this is that they did not want to call it SARS-2 because the word SARS could create panic. I cannot speak for what “they” want so please take everything I say with a grain of salt. They began studying the outbreak of a “novel” coronavirus and referred to it as such. It was quickly determined to be in the same species as SARS-CoV, therefore it’s SARS-CoV-2. Keep in mind that “SARS” is the disease name. Part of the claimed official rationale for naming the new variant COVID is that there was a wide variety of severity of symptoms and not everybody came down with acute respiratory distress. ---
**Author:** ![Saturn\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-call-it-sars-2/850539/5 "2020-03-29T23:46:01Z")
> [@MaverocK](#): > > SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 are both corona viruses. When the SARS outbreak first happened in early 2000s, they called it SARS outbreak and called the virus SARS virus. Now, pretty much everyone (newspapers, articles, medical doctors on media etc.) calls SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. It makes sense to call it coronavirus but: > > 1.) Why did they not call it back in 2002-2003 coronovirus? It was SARS back then. > 2.) If it was called SARS, why now change it to coronovirus? > > My take on this is that they did not want to call it SARS-2 because the word SARS could create panic. 1. Because there are several types of coronaviruses. SARS has CoV attached to its name as well, although everyone just simply called it SARS. 2. Before it got its official naming, the virus was referenced as “new coronavirus”. WHO didn’t want to refer it to with a “SARS” prefix to avoid confusion with the first SARS back in 2002-2003, and as you have already mentioned, to avoid causing panic. > [@](#): > > What name does WHO use for the virus? > From a risk communications perspective, using the name SARS can have unintended consequences in terms of creating unnecessary fear for some populations, especially in Asia which was worst affected by the SARS outbreak in 2003. > For that reason and others, WHO has begun referring to the virus as “the virus responsible for COVID-19” or “the COVID-19 virus” when communicating with the public. Neither of these designations are intended as replacements for the official name of the virus as agreed by the ICTV.