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The novel coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 is an emerging disease with deadly consequences, extended its stride over the globe commenced from the epicenter, Wuhan wet market, China led to declare globally as pandemic disease Several non-specific features of the disease like prolonged incubation period, asymptomatic yet contagious, longer illness duration, and conveyance post clinical recovery feature makes prevention difficult and is the key reason for its rapid spread across the world Covid-19 shows varied manifestations with the majority of reported cases having mild or even no symptoms However, the infection led to a destructive footprint in the pulmonary system, specifically, lungs are most prone to damage, making them incapable of conducting respiratory functions and thus, resulting in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multi-organ dysfunction, and loss of life Up to the present, there is no worldwide-approved treatment for COVID-19 and only repurposed drugs are employed for the hospitalized patient, necessitating an urgent need to develop effective therapeutics Hence, effective control of disease spread through screening and isolation of contacts is crucial in the community The contagion effect of the COVID-19 outbreak has brought major challenges to health systems as well as global economy worldwide Development of rapid diagnostic test and effective vaccine as well as minimizing the exposure of the human population to possible animal reservoirs is measures needed to curb future impact The outbreak of SARS-CoV in 2003 followed by MERS-CoV within a decade, indicates the threat of novel infectious diseases resulting from RNA viruses, will continue to present a serious global health threat, as epitomized by COVID-19 Therefore, this review is attempting to provide an overview of the current scenario of COVID-19 in terms of epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, especially focusing on public health impact © 2020, Editorial board of Journal of Experimental Biology and Agricultural Sciences All rights reserved

Uneven codon usage within genes as well as among genomes is a usual phenomenon across organisms. It plays a significant role in the translational efficiency and evolution of a particular gene. EPB41L3 is a tumor suppressor protein-coding gene, and in the present study, the pattern of codon usage was envisaged. The full-length sequences of the EPB41L3 gene for the human, brown rat, domesticated cattle, and Sumatran orangutan available at the NCBI were retrieved and utilized to analyze CUB patterns across the selected mammalian species. Compositional properties, dinucleotide abundance, and parity analysis showed the dominance of A and G whilst RSCU analysis indicated the dominance of G/C-ending codons. The neutrality plot plotted between GC12 and GC3 to determine the variation between the mutation pressure and natural selection indicated the dominance of selection pressure (R = 0.926, p &lt, 0.00001) over the three codon positions across the gene. The result is in concordance with the codon adaptation index analysis and the ENc-GC3 plot analysis, as well as the translational selection index (P2). Overall selection pressure is the dominant pressure acting during the evolution of the EPB41L3 gene.

Since the appearance in the late of December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly evolving and mutating continuously, giving rise to various variants with variable degrees of infectivity and lethality. The virus that initially appeared in China later mutated several times, wreaking havoc and claiming many lives worldwide amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. After Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants, the most recently emerged variant of concern (VOC) is the Omicron (B.1.1.529) that has evolved due to the accumulation of high numbers of mutations especially in the spike protein, raising concerns for its ability to evade from pre-existing immunity acquired through vaccination or natural infection as well as overpowering antibodies-based therapies. Several theories are on the surface to explain how the Omicron has gathered such a high number of mutations within less time. Few of them are higher mutation rates within a subgroup of population and then its introduction to a larger population, long term persistence and evolution of the virus in immune-compromised patients, and epizootic infection in animals from humans, where under different immune pressures the virus mutated and then got reintroduced to humans. Multifaceted approach including rapid diagnosis, genome analysis of emerging variants, ramping up of vaccination drives and receiving booster doses, efficacy testing of vaccines and immunotherapies against newly emerged variants, updating the available vaccines, designing of multivalent vaccines able to generate hybrid immunity, up-gradation of medical facilities and strict implementation of adequate prevention and control measures need to be given high priority to handle the on-going SARS-CoV-2 pandemic successfully.