Overview of lethal human coronaviruses

Abstract

Coronavirus infections of multiple origins have spread to date worldwide, causing severe respiratory diseases. Seven coronaviruses that infect humans have been identified: HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-NL63, HCoV-HKU1, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2. Among them, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV caused outbreaks in 2002 and 2012, respectively. SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is the most recently discovered. It has created a severe worldwide outbreak beginning in late 2019, leading to date to over 4 million cases globally. Viruses are genetically simple, yet highly diverse. However, the recent outbreaks of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, and the ongoing outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, indicate that there remains a long way to go to identify and develop specific therapeutic treatments. Only after gaining a better understanding of their pathogenic mechanisms can we minimize viral pandemics. This paper mainly focuses on SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2. Here, recent studies are summarized and reviewed, with a focus on virus–host interactions, vaccine-based and drug-targeted therapies, and the development of new approaches for clinical diagnosis and treatment.