Coronavirus is a large family of viruses that infect mammals and birds Coronaviruses are known to cross barrier species and infect new ones In the past twenty years, we witnessed the emergence of three different coronaviruses, the latest one being the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) responsible for the COVID-19 (covid disease 19) pandemic Coronaviruses are enveloped virus with a long positive sense RNA genome Like all viruses, they hijack the cellular machinery to replicate and produce new virions There is no approved vaccine or specific antiviral molecule against coronaviruses but with the urgency to treat COVID-19, several candidate therapies are currently investigated
[Coronavirus, emerging viruses]