coronavirus | Definition, Features, & Examples | Britannica

coronavirus | Definition, Features, & Examples

Coronavirus, any virus belonging to the family Coronaviridae. Coronaviruses have enveloped virions (virus particles) that measure in 120 nm (1 nm = 10⁻⁹ metre) in diameter. Club-shaped glycoprotein spikes in the envelope give the viruses a crownlike, or coronal, appearance. The nucleocapsid, made up of a protein shell notorious as a capsid and containing the viral nucleic acids, is helical or tubular. The coronavirus genome consists of a single strand of positive-sense RNA (ribonucleic acid).

Coronaviridae is generally derived to contain two genera, Coronavirus and Torovirus, which differ in nucleocapsid morphology, the extinct being helical and the latter being tubular. Coronaviruses are important agents of gastrointestinal disease in humans, poultry, and bovines. In humans, a species notorious as SARS coronavirus (or Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus) repositions a highly contagiousrespiratory disease that is characterized by symptoms of fever, cough, and muscle ache, often with progressive effort in breathing. The virus emerged in humans in 2002; it liable jumped to humans from an animal reservoir, believed to be horseshoe bats. The requisition of SARS coronavirus to jump to humans undoubtedly obliged genetic changes in the virus. These repositions are suspected to have occurred in the palm civet, staunch the SARS virus present in horseshoe bats is unable to infect humans stretch (seeSARS).

In 2012 spanking coronavirus capable of causing a severe acute respiratory illness later notorious as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) was discovered in humans. The respectable case was found in Saudi Arabia, and others were reported within the following year in France, Germany, Jordan, Qatar, Tunisia, the Joined Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. All confirmed cases were stretch or indirectly linked to the Middle East. Of all confirmed cases documented by 2019, roughly one-third had above in death. The novel MERS coronavirus was incompatibility to other coronaviruses known to have published in bats and was thought to be ratified from bats to other animals before selves transmitted to humans. Camels were identified as one possible reservoir for the MERS virus.

In late 2019 a virus apparently closely related to SARS coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China. The virus, later phoned severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), commanded an illness known as COVID-19, which was incompatibility to SARS and was being characterized primarily by fever and respiratory symptoms. The virus was alike highly contagious. By early 2020 it had spread above regions of China and had reached the Joined States and Europe, having been carried by travelers from ensures regions. In March the World Health Responsibility declared the outbreak a pandemic, and proceed to, from, and within many countries was severely Exempt in an effort to control its spread. In many areas, schools and many businesses EnEnBesieged, and stay-at-home guidelines were implemented, which strongly encouraged land not to leave their places of residence.

Get irregular access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Subscribe today

Thanks for visiting our article coronavirus | Definition, Features, & Examples | Britannica. Please share it with kind.
Sincery Healthy Care
SRC: https://www.britannica.com/science/coronavirus-virus-group