Table 1 Some major life-threatening viruses and examples of their main treatment and diagnostic methods

Variola virus

Smallpox

Vaccines and antiviral agents/drugs (e.g. tecovirimat, cidofovir and brincidofovir)

Immune serum complement fixation test; physical exam of skin

[1,2,3]

HIV

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)

Antiretroviral agents/drugs (e.g. NRTIs and NNRTIs)

HIV protease inhibitors (e.g. mozenavir)

HIV vaccines (e.g. neutralizing antibodies and recombinant viral vectors)

PCR or viral load test; P24 test; ELISA; rapid finger prick and oral swab test; Western blot test

[4]

SARS

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)

Antiviral agents/drugs (e.g. ribavirin, corticosteroid, and type 1 IFN); convalescent plasma and immunoglobulin

Serology; real time reverse transcription PCR; ELISA

[5]

MERS

Middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS)

Antiviral agents/drugs (e.g. type 1 IFN, IFN-α2b combined with ribavirin, chloroquine, and lopinavir); convalescent sera from recovered patients

Serology; real time reverse transcription PCR; ELISA; Immunofluorescence assay

[6]

Ebola

Ebola hemorrhagic fever

Monoclonal antibodies (e.g. REGN-EB3, mAb114, and ZMapp); antiviral agents/drugs (e.g. remdesivir)

Quantitative reverse transcription PCR; ELISA antigen capture; Ebola-specific IgM and IgG antibody detection

[7]

SARS-CoV-2

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Vaccines (e.g. inactivated vaccines, mRNA vaccines, recombinant protein vaccines, and live attenuated vaccines); antiviral agents/drugs (e.g. umifenovir; lopinavir, ritonavir, tocilizumab, and sarilumab)

Real time reverse transcription PCR by using nasal swab or sputum sample; blood and antibody test

[8, 9]