Table 1. Comparison of epidemiological characteristics between SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV.

SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; SARS-CoV, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus; MERS-CoV, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus; R0, reproduction number

Features	SARS-CoV-2	SARS-CoV	MERS-CoV
Estimated R0	2.68	2-5	>1
Host of virus	Bats are natural hosts, pangolins are Intermediate hosts, and humans are terminal hosts	Chinese horseshoe bats are natural hosts, masked palm civets are intermediate hosts, and humans are terminal hosts	Bats are natural hosts, dromedary camels are intermediate hosts, and humans are terminal hosts
Transmission mode	Human-to-human through fomites, physical contact, aerosol droplets, nosocomial transmission, zoonotic transmission	Human-to-human through aerosol droplets, opportunistic airborne transmission, nosocomial transmission, fecal-oral transmission, zoonotic transmission	Respiratory transmission, zoonotic transmission, nosocomial transmission, limited human-to-human transmission, aerosol transmission
Incubation period	6.4 days (range: 0-24 days)	4.6 days	5.2 days