SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology, kinetics, and evolution: a narrative review

Abstract

Since winter 2019, SARS-CoV-2 emerged, spread, and evolved all around the globe. We explore four years of evolutionary epidemiology of this virus, ranging from the applied public health challenges to the more conceptual evolutionary biology perspectives. Through this review, we revisit key episodes of the pandemic, highlighting important epidemiology and evolution notions they may raise, to discuss how the pandemic has transformed (or should transform) the surveillance and prevention of viral respiratory infections.