CORONAVIRUSES-what do we know?

Of the seven corona viruses known to infect humans, three are of major public health significance: severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS), and cornoavirus 2019 (COVID-19). Other members of the coronavirus family can cause respiratory or intestinal disease in a range of domestic species, including horses, swine, cattle, cats, dogs and chickens. SARS-CoV-2 is genetically and otherwise uniquely distinct from these other coronaviruses, NONE OF WHICH ARE KNOWN to be HUMAN PATHOGENS!!!!!! There are many aspects of the biology of SARS-CoV-2, including its host range, epidemiology, pathogenesis, and nature of the immune response to the virus, that remain to be fully elucidated. This commentary is a post from the University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, July, 2020.