Coronavirus diseases

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),[1][2] while more lethal varieties can cause SARS, MERS and COVID-19.

[3][4] As of 2021, 45 species are registered as coronaviruses,[5] whilst 11 diseases have been identified, as listed below.

[6] It was coined by Tony Waterson (professor of virology at St Thomas' Hospital)[7][8][9] 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,[10] with approval by the International Committee for the Nomenclature of Viruses three years later.

Coronaviridae were generally of limited interest to the wider scientific community, until the appearance of SARS.