Follow up on COVID-19

We have been offered COVID-19 as the name for this particular coronavirus but there seems to be some reluctance to use it. People have said that the official name came too late, that coronavirus was already established as the de facto name; that coronavirus rolls off the tongue whereas CoVid-19 is harder to say; that any name that has a number in it is definitely not promising because who remembers numbers in words. I don’t think that caused a problem with catch-22 but then 22 is perhaps a catchier number than 19 which is, it has to be said, a rather boring numeral.

 Now things have progressed a step further.  The coronavirus used to refer to the virus causing the disease, but now it refers to the disease itself.  The state government is sending advice on what you can expect if you havecoronavirus. The ABC is answering the question: Will air-conditioning stop you catching coronavirus? You can now contract coronavirus. It seems that coronavirus is now the disease as well as the virus. 

 I have been trying, but failing, to think of any other instance of this where the name of the bug is also the name of the disease. Pneumonia is the disease caused by various bacteria and viruses. In strep throat, strep is short for streptococcus and used adjectivally. Typhus is the disease cause by Rickettsia bacteria.  And so on.   In this case the virus is severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2, and the diseases is COVID-19.