It was identified in late 2004 in patients in the Netherlands by Lia van der Hoek and Krzysztof Pyrc[2] using a novel virus discovery method VIDISCA.

[8][9][10] The virus is found primarily in young children, the elderly, and immunocompromised patients with acute respiratory illness.

[9] An early study investigating children with lower respiratory tract illness, found that HCoV-NL63 was more commonly found in outpatients than hospitalized patients, suggesting that it is a common cold virus similar to HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43, which generally cause less severe symptoms.

It is believed that the route of HCoV-NL63 spread is through direct person-to-person transmission in highly populated areas.

The virus can survive for up to a week outside of the body in aqueous solutions at room temperature and three hours on dry surfaces.

Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction of samples collected through nasopharyngeal swab is the most commonly used method for detection of the virus.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends several measures for the prevention of infection with HCoV-NL63 including: washing hands often with soap and water, avoiding close contact with sick individuals, and not touching the eyes, mouth, or nose.

The other six are:[22] Research published in 2005 by Esper, et al. suggested an association of HCoV-NL63 infection with Kawasaki disease, a systemic vasculitis in childhood that may result in aneurysms of the coronary arteries.

[25] This type of infection is the direct result of the viral invasion of the mucosal lining of the intestines.