Coronaviruses are a type of virus. There are many different kinds, and some cause disease. A newly identified coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has caused a worldwide pandemic of respiratory illness, called COVID-19.
The name coronavirus comes from the Latin word corona, meaning crown or halo. Under an electron microscope, the viruses look like they have a “crown” of spikes on their surface.
Coronaviruses are common in many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats. Occasionally, animal coronaviruses can infect people and then spread between people such as with SARS-CoV-2 , the virus that causes COVID-19.
Most people who become infected with animal coronaviruses experience only mild illness or no illness at all. However, these viruses have the potential to cause severe respiratory illnesses in both animals and people.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is one example of an animal coronavirus causing severe disease in humans. The 2002–2004 SARS pandemic was caused by SARS-CoV; approximately 8096 people were infected and 774 died globally . During that outbreak bat biologists found genetic evidence linking SARS-like viruses in horseshoe bats to the human outbreak virus . However it is not known if these horseshoe bats were the source of the 2002–2004 outbreak or if there were other intermediary hosts involved in spreading this virus to humans . Other examples of zoonotic coronaviruses include MERS -CoV which emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012 , and has since been reported sporadically from several countries in Africa , Europe , Asia as well as North America . Most recently another new zoonotic coronavirus emerged causing an outbreak of viral pneumonia initially detected in Wuhan City , Hubei Province China which has now resulted also in exported cases to >25 countries globally as well as sustained community transmission within China itself . This new coronavirus was provisionally named 2019 novel coronavirus (2019‐nCoV) until its official designation today as SARS‐CoV‐2 by WHO following its identification as the causative agent for COVID‐19 . As described above therefore all 3 recent human outbreaks of serious respiratory disease have been linked to zoonotic infections with bat derived CoVs however it is currently unclear if any other wild animals play a role either directly or indirectly for this latest 2019/20 outbreak although investigations continue into this possibility.”