| Coronaviruses |
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Coronavirus diseases are caused by viruses in the coronavirus subfamily, a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, the group of viruses cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the common cold (which is also caused by other viruses, predominantly rhinoviruses), while more lethal varieties can cause SARS, MERS and COVID-19. As of 2021, 45 species are registered as coronaviruses, whilst 11 diseases have been identified, as listed below.
Coronaviruses are known for their shape resembling a stellar corona, such as that of the Sun visible during a total solar eclipse; corona is derived from the Latin word corōna, meaning 'garland, wreath, crown'. It was coined by Tony Waterson (professor of virology at St Thomas' Hospital) in a meeting with his colleagues June Almeida and David Tyrrell, the founding fathers of coronavirus studies, and was first used in a Nature article in 1968, with approval by the International Committee for the Nomenclature of Viruses three years later.
The first coronavirus disease was discovered in the late 1920s, however, the most recent common ancestor of coronaviruses is estimated to have existed as recently as 8000 BCE. For a long time, coronaviradae were of limited interest to the wider scientific community, although this changed after SARS. Human coronaviruses were discovered in the 1960s, through a variety of experiments in the United States and the United Kingdom. A common origin in human coronaviruses is bats.
List
| Host organism | Disease | Pathogen | Year of Discovery | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birds | Avian infectious bronchitis | Avian coronavirus (IBV) | 1920s(isolated in 1938) | Discovered in North America. |
| Pigs, dogs, cats | Enteritis | Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) | 1946 (isolated in 1965) | Infects pigs, cats, and dogs. |
| Humans | Common cold | Human coronavirus 229E (HCoV‑229E) | 1930s (isolated in 1965) | Possibly originated from bats. |
| Mice, rats | Encephalitis | MHV-JHM, a strain of murine coronavirus (M‑CoV) named after John Howard Mueller. | 1949 | |
| Humans | Common cold | Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV‑OC43) | 1967 | Possibly originated from rodents, then jumped through cattle to humans. |
| Pigs | Enteritis | Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) | 1971 | Infects pigs. Caused outbreaks in 1972 and 1978, 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2015. |
| Dogs | Enteritis | Canine coronavirus (CCoV) | 1971 | |
| Cats | Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) | Feline coronavirus (FCoV) | ||
| Cattle | Enteritis | Bovine coronavirus (BCV or BCoV) | ||
| Humans | Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) | Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS‑CoV or SARS‑CoV‑1), a strain of severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus (SARSr‑CoV) | 2002 | Discovered in Foshan, China. Caused the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak. Possibly originated from horseshoe bats. |
| Humans | Common cold | Human coronavirus HKU1 (HCoV‑HKU1) | 2004 | Discovered in Hong Kong, China. |
| Humans | Common cold | Human coronavirus NL63 (HCoV‑NL63) | 2004 | Discovered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Possibly originated from tricolored bats. |
| Chinese bulbuls | Bulbul coronavirus HKU11 (BulbulCoV‑HKU11) | 2008 | Discovered in Hong Kong, China. | |
| Humans | Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) | Middle East respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus (MERS‑CoV) | 2012 | Discovered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Caused outbreaks in 2012, 2015, and 2018. |
| Pigs | Enteritis | Porcine coronavirus HKU15 (PorCov‑HKU15) | 2014 | Discovered in Hong Kong, China. |
| Humans | Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) | Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), a strain of SARSr‑CoV | 2019 | Discovered in Wuhan, China. Caused the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Possibly originated from pangolins, horseshoe bats, or both. |