Coronaviruses belong to a large family of viruses causing a wide spectrum of illness, ranging from very mild such as common cold to severe illness such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). Numerous other coronaviruses circulate among animals, including camels and some bat species. Rarely, some animal coronaviruses can evolve to cause illness in people. Sometimes coronaviruses may develop the ability to spread from person to person, for example MERS-CoV which was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012, and the SARS-CoV, first recognized in China in 2002. The COVID-19 is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.
Read more