What is a Coronavirus?

Coronaviruses refer to a group of viruses that cause diseases in humans, animals and birds. In humans, several coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

There are other symptoms in case of animals, for example, they cause an upper respiratory tract disease in chickens, while in cows and pigs they cause diarrhea.

There are yet to be vaccines or antiviral drugs to prevent or treat human coronavirus infections. The most recently discovered coronavirus disease is COVID-19.