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Coronaviruses: emerging and re-emerging pathogens in humans and animals

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Edited by
Alan McLachlan, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Leo Poon, PhD, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

This thematic series published in Virology Journal emphasizes advances and key discoveries in the animal origin, viral evolution, epidemiology, diagnostics and pathogenesis of different emerging and re-emerging coronaviruses.

We are proud to announce that "Coronaviruses: emerging and re-emerging pathogens in humans and animals" is currently open for submissions - please submit here.

Originally published in 2015 and addressing the serious outbreaks of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), this thematic series is now again timely due to the new SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for an outbreak of respiratory illness known as COVID-19, which has spread to several countries around the world.

The Editors of Virology Journal felt that it would be timely and appropriate to relaunch a new call for papers to be published in this thematic series.

This collection of articles has not been sponsored and articles have undergone the journal’s standard peer-review process. The Guest Editors declare no competing interests.

Submission instructions

Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have carefully read the submission guidelines for Virology Journal.

The complete manuscript should be submitted through the journal submission system.

To ensure that you submit to the correct thematic series please select this thematic series in the drop-down menu upon submission.


View all collections in Virology Journal.

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  1. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to plague the world. While COVID-19 is asymptomatic in most individuals, it can caus...

    Authors: Yunes Panahi, Armita Mahdavi Gorabi, Sona Talaei, Fatemeh Beiraghdar, Abolfazl Akbarzadeh, Vahideh Tarhriz and Hassan Mellatyar
    Citation: Virology Journal 2023 20:23
    Content type: Review Published on:

  2. The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has affected day-to-day life worldwide and presents an unprecedented challenge to public healt...

    Authors: Ye Minn Htun, Thinzar Aung, Myo Su Kyi, Nyan Htet Shan, Zin Thu Winn, Kaung Si Thu, Nyan Lin Maung, Tun Tun Win and Kyaw Myo Tun
    Citation: Virology Journal 2023 20:3
    Content type: Comment Published on:

  3. Porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus (PHEV), a member of the genus Betacoronavirus, is the causative agent of neurological disease in pigs. No effective therapeutics are currently available for PHEV i...

    Authors: Yuzhu Liu, Deguang Song, Xueli Liu, Yuanqi Wang, Gaili Wang and Yungang Lan
    Citation: Virology Journal 2022 19:226
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. Emergence of new variants mainly variants of concerns (VOC) is caused by mutations in main structural proteins of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Therefore, we aimed to investigat...

    Authors: Mohammad Abavisani, Karim Rahimian, Bahar Mahdavi, Samaneh Tokhanbigli, Mahsa Mollapour Siasakht, Amin Farhadi, Mansoor Kodori, Mohammadamin Mahmanzar and Zahra Meshkat
    Citation: Virology Journal 2022 19:220
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. A novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has caused a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 19. Coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, use RNA-dependent RNA polymerase ...

    Authors: Mitsuhiro Machitani, Junko Takei, Mika K. Kaneko, Saori Ueki, Hirofumi Ohashi, Koichi Watashi, Yukinari Kato and Kenkichi Masutomi
    Citation: Virology Journal 2022 19:213
    Content type: Brief Report Published on:

  7. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, has led to major public health crises worldwide. Several studies have reported the comprehensive mRNA expression ana...

    Authors: Hiroshi Ito, Masakazu Ishikawa, Hisatake Matsumoto, Fuminori Sugihara, Daisuke Okuzaki, Haruhiko Hirata and Hiroshi Ogura
    Citation: Virology Journal 2022 19:198
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. Currently, the majority of the global population has been vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine, and characterization studies of antibodies in vivo from Omicron breakthrough infection and naive infection popula...

    Authors: Huan Zhang, Yushan Jiang, Hanqing Tan, Lirong Zou, Zhonghua Zheng, Yushi Huang, Shujian Lin, Lebin Su, Jianxiang Yu, Xiaoling Deng, Jianfeng He, Chang Liu, Chenguang Shen and Baisheng Li
    Citation: Virology Journal 2022 19:197
    Content type: Brief Report Published on:

  9. The term, "aerosol-generating procedures” (AGPs), was proposed during the prior SARS-CoV-1 epidemic in order to maximise healthcare worker and patient protection. The concept of AGPs has since expanded to incl...

    Authors: Andrew Silvers, David J. Brewster, Alister Ford, Ana Licina, Cassandra Andrews and Mark Adams
    Citation: Virology Journal 2022 19:189
    Content type: Review Published on:

  10. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is currently a worldwide pandemic. There are limited available treatments for severe ...

    Authors: Gang Wang, Zebao He, Fengtian Wu, Zhengming Ge, Jiansheng Zhu and Zhi Chen
    Citation: Virology Journal 2022 19:186
    Content type: Research Published on:

  11. Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) is a dominant variant worldwide. However, the risk factors for Omicron variant clearance are yet unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the risk factors for early viral cle...

    Authors: Xiujun Zhang, Guocan Si, Huifen Lu, Wei Zhang, Shuqin Zheng, Zeyu Huang, Longgen Liu, Yuan Xue and Guojun Zheng
    Citation: Virology Journal 2022 19:148
    Content type: Research Published on:

  12. A growing body of evidence reports that agitation and encephalopathy are frequent in critically ill Covid-19 patients. We aimed to assess agitation’s incidence and risk factors in critically ill ARDS patients ...

    Authors: Adel Maamar, Clémence Liard, Willelm Doucet, Florian Reizine, Benoit Painvin, Flora Delamaire, Valentin Coirier, Quentin Quelven, Pauline Guillot, Mathieu Lesouhaitier, Jean Marc Tadié and Arnaud Gacouin
    Citation: Virology Journal 2022 19:145
    Content type: Research Published on:

  13. Rapid and accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection is the cornerstone of prompt patient care. However, the reliability of the antigen rapid diagnostic test (Ag-RDT) in the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection r...

    Authors: Lan Dong, Wen-Fang Li and Ying Jiang
    Citation: Virology Journal 2022 19:140
    Content type: Research Published on:

  14. Lipids play a central role in the virus life cycle and are a crucial target to develop antiviral therapeutics. Importantly, among the other lipoproteins, the ‘good cholesterol’ high-density lipoprotein (HDL) h...

    Authors: Minu Nain, Apoorv Gupta, Sumit Malhotra and Amit Sharma
    Citation: Virology Journal 2022 19:135
    Content type: Research Published on:

  16. As a new epi-center of COVID-19 in Asia and a densely populated developing country, Indonesia is facing unprecedented challenges in public health. SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.466.2 was reported to be an indigenous ...

    Authors: Mingjian Zhu, Qianli Zeng, Bryanna Infinita Laviashna Saputro, Sien Ping Chew, Ian Chew, Holie Frendy, Joanna Weihui Tan and Lanjuan Li
    Citation: Virology Journal 2022 19:103
    Content type: Research Published on:

  18. We report a genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 lineages circulating in Paraná, southern Brazil, from March 2020 to April 2021. Our analysis, based on 333 genomes, revealed that the first variants detected in t...

    Authors: Mauro M. Oliveira, Michelle O. Schemberger, Andreia A. Suzukawa, Irina N. Riediger, Maria do Carmo Debur, Guilherme Becker, Paola Cristina Resende, Tiago Gräf, Eduardo Balsanelli, Valter Antônio de Baura, Emanuel M. de Souza, Fábio O. Pedrosa, Lysangela R. Alves, Lucas Blanes, Sheila Cristina Nardelli, Alessandra M. Aguiar…
    Citation: Virology Journal 2021 18:222
    Content type: Research Published on:

  19. The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is the etiological agent of COVID-19. This virus has become one of the most dangerous in recent times with a very high rate of transmission. At present, several publications sh...

    Authors: Brian Mondeja, Odalys Valdes, Sonia Resik, Ananayla Vizcaino, Emilio Acosta, Adelmo Montalván, Amira Paez, Mayra Mune, Roberto Rodríguez, Juan Valdés, Guelsys Gonzalez, Daisy Sanchez, Viviana Falcón, Yorexis González, Vivian Kourí, Angelina Díaz…
    Citation: Virology Journal 2021 18:149
    Content type: Short report Published on:

  20. In COVID-19 patients, undetected co-infections may have severe clinical implications associated with increased hospitalization, varied treatment approaches and mortality. Therefore, we investigated the implica...

    Authors: Bandar Alosaimi, Asif Naeem, Maaweya E. Hamed, Haitham S. Alkadi, Thamer Alanazi, Sanaa Saad Al Rehily, Abdullah Z. Almutairi and Adnan Zafar
    Citation: Virology Journal 2021 18:127
    Content type: Research Published on:

  21. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread to many countries around the world. In addition to lung disease, severe cases also displayed varying degrees of liver injury. This articl...

    Authors: Dongdong Yu, Qingru Du, Shengguang Yan, Xu-Guang Guo, Yehao He, Guodong Zhu, Kewei Zhao and Shi Ouyang
    Citation: Virology Journal 2021 18:121
    Content type: Review Published on:

  22. Since its outbreak in 2019, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a pandemic, affecting more than 52 million people and causing more than 1 million mortalities globally till date. Current research reve...

    Authors: Baila Shakaib, Tanzeel Zohra, Aamer Ikram, Muhammad Bin Shakaib, Amna Ali, Adnan Bashir, Muhammad Salman, Mumtaz Ali khan and Jamil Ansari
    Citation: Virology Journal 2021 18:120
    Content type: Review Published on:

  23. Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a zoonotic life-threatening viral infection endemic across sub-Saharan African countries and the Arabian Peninsula; however, there is a growing panic of its spread to non-ende...

    Authors: Raymond Tshepiso Makola, Joe Kgaladi, Garland Kgosi More, Petrus Jansen van Vuren, Janusz Tadeusz Paweska and Thabe Moses Matsebatlela
    Citation: Virology Journal 2021 18:116
    Content type: Research Published on:

  24. It is important to recognize the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in severe conditions from moderate ones, thus more effective predictors should be developed.

    Authors: Yingjie Qi, Jian-an Jia, Huiming Li, Nagen Wan, Shuqin Zhang and Xiaoling Ma
    Citation: Virology Journal 2021 18:115
    Content type: Research Published on:

  25. The ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has spread rapidly worldwide and disease prevention is more important than ever. In the absence of a vaccine, knowledge of the transmission routes and risk areas of infection re...

    Authors: Janina Krambrich, Dario Akaberi, Jiaxin Ling, Tove Hoffman, Lennart Svensson, Marie Hagbom and Åke Lundkvist
    Citation: Virology Journal 2021 18:109
    Content type: Research Published on:

  26. Sensitive, rapid, and accessible diagnostics continue to be critical to track the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. RT-qPCR is the gold standard test, and comparison of methodologies and reagen...

    Authors: Joel D. Pearson, Daniel Trcka, Suying Lu, Sharon J. Hyduk, Mark Jen, Marie-Ming Aynaud, J. Javier Hernández, Philippos Peidis, Miriam Barrios-Rodiles, Kin Chan, Jim Woodgett, Tony Mazzulli, Liliana Attisano, Laurence Pelletier, Myron I. Cybulsky, Jeffrey L. Wrana…
    Citation: Virology Journal 2021 18:99
    Content type: Research Published on:

  27. The early identification of asymptomatic yet infectious cases is vital to curb the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and to control the disease in the post-pandemic era. In this paper, we propose a fast, in...

    Authors: Eva Kriegova, Regina Fillerova, Milan Raska, Jirina Manakova, Martin Dihel, Ondrej Janca, Pavel Sauer, Martina Klimkova, Petra Strakova and Petr Kvapil
    Citation: Virology Journal 2021 18:95
    Content type: Short report Published on:

  28. SARS-CoV-2 infection can present with a broad clinical differential that includes many other respiratory viruses; therefore, accurate tests are crucial to distinguish true COVID-19 cases from pathogens that do...

    Authors: Natalie C. Marshall, Ruwandi M. Kariyawasam, Nathan Zelyas, Jamil N. Kanji and Mathew A. Diggle
    Citation: Virology Journal 2021 18:93
    Content type: Research Published on:

  29. The emergence and rapid spread of the B.1.1.7 lineage (VOC-202012/01) SARS-CoV-2 variant has aroused global concern. The N501Y substitution is the only mutation in the interface between the RBD of B.1.1.7 and ...

    Authors: Lin Cheng, Shuo Song, Bing Zhou, Xiangyang Ge, Jiazhen Yu, Mingxia Zhang, Bin Ju and Zheng Zhang
    Citation: Virology Journal 2021 18:87
    Content type: Short report Published on:

  30. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been a catastrophic burden to global healthcare systems. The fast spread of the etiologic agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), h...

    Authors: Wai Sing Chan, Chun Hang Au, Ho Yin Lam, Candy Ling Na Wang, Dona Ngar-Yin Ho, Yuk Man Lam, Daniel Ka Wing Chu, Leo Lit Man Poon, Tsun Leung Chan, Jonpaul Sze-Tsing Zee, Edmond Shiu Kwan Ma and Bone Siu Fai Tang
    Citation: Virology Journal 2020 17:183
    Content type: Short report Published on:

  31. Several molecular kits are available for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, mostly lacking of proper clinical evaluation due to the emergency caused by COVID19 pandemia, particularly at developing countries like Ecuador.

    Authors: Byron Freire-Paspuel and Miguel Angel Garcia-Bereguiain
    Citation: Virology Journal 2020 17:178
    Content type: Short report Published on:

    The Correction to this article has been published in Virology Journal 2021 18:41

  33. We aimed to describe the features of 220 nonemergency (mild or common type) COVID-19 patients from a shelter hospital, as well as evaluate the efficiency of antiviral drug, Arbidol in their disease progressions.

    Authors: Wei Gao, Si Chen, Kun Wang, Rongzhang Chen, Qian Guo, Jingjing Lu, Xiaodong Wu, Yanan He, Qiaoyun Yan, Shengyun Wang, Feilong Wang, Li Jin, Jing Hua and Qiang Li
    Citation: Virology Journal 2020 17:162
    Content type: Short report Published on:

  34. Aimed to summarize the characteristics of chest CT imaging in Chinese hospitalized patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) to provide reliable evidence for further guiding clinical routine.

    Authors: Haitao Yang, Yuzhu Lan, Xiujuan Yao, Sheng Lin and Baosong Xie
    Citation: Virology Journal 2020 17:159
    Content type: Research Published on:

  35. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, previously named 2019-nCov), a novel coronavirus that emerged in China in December 2019 and was dec...

    Authors: Sumanth Khadke, Nayla Ahmed, Nausheen Ahmed, Ryan Ratts, Shine Raju, Molly Gallogly, Marcos de Lima and Muhammad Rizwan Sohail
    Citation: Virology Journal 2020 17:154
    Content type: Review Published on:

  36. The basic reproduction number (R0) is the number of cases directly caused by an infected individual throughout his infectious period. R0 is used to determine the ability of a disease to spread within a given p...

    Authors: Samath Dharmaratne, Supun Sudaraka, Ishanya Abeyagunawardena, Kasun Manchanayake, Mahen Kothalawala and Wasantha Gunathunga
    Citation: Virology Journal 2020 17:144
    Content type: Research Published on:

  37. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19), a disease caused by a pathogen called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a pandemic. ...

    Authors: Mulugeta Kiros, Henok Andualem, Teklehaimanot Kiros, Wasihun Hailemichael, Sisay Getu, Alene Geteneh, Derbie Alemu and Woldaregay Erku Abegaz
    Citation: Virology Journal 2020 17:143
    Content type: Review Published on:

  38. The COVID-19 causing coronavirus is an enveloped RNA virus that utilizes an enzyme RNA dependent RNA polymerase for its replication. Favipiravir (FVP) triphosphate, a purine nucleoside analog, inhibits that en...

    Authors: Dhan Bahadur Shrestha, Pravash Budhathoki, Sitaram Khadka, Prajwol Bikram Shah, Nisheem Pokharel and Prama Rashmi
    Citation: Virology Journal 2020 17:141
    Content type: Research Published on:

  39. Sheeppox and goatpox are both economically important animal diseases in which pathogens are goatpox virus (GTPV) and sheeppox virus (SPPV). They can’t cause cross-species infection between sheep and goats in g...

    Authors: Chuanchuan He, Jianjun Tong, Xueping Zhang, Milikaimu Tuohetiniyazi, Yu Zhang and Youwen Li
    Citation: Virology Journal 2020 17:133
    Content type: Research Published on:

    The Correction to this article has been published in Virology Journal 2021 18:108

  40. The Covid19 infection is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a novel member of the coronavirus (CoV) family. CoV genomes code for a ORF1a / ORF1ab polyprotein and four structural proteins widely studied as major d...

    Authors: Christian Jean Michel, Claudine Mayer, Olivier Poch and Julie Dawn Thompson
    Citation: Virology Journal 2020 17:131
    Content type: Research Published on:

  41. Currently, one of the most reliable methods for viral infection detection are polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based assays. This process is time and resource heavy, requiring multiple steps of lysis, extractio...

    Authors: Zachary P. Morehouse, Caleb M. Proctor, Gabriella L. Ryan and Rodney J. Nash
    Citation: Virology Journal 2020 17:129
    Content type: Short report Published on:

  42. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection has spread rapidly across the world and become an international public health emergency. Both SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV belong to subfamily Coronav...

    Authors: Yicheng Yang, Zhiqiang Xiao, Kaiyan Ye, Xiaoen He, Bo Sun, Zhiran Qin, Jianghai Yu, Jinxiu Yao, Qinghua Wu, Zhang Bao and Wei Zhao
    Citation: Virology Journal 2020 17:117
    Content type: Review Published on:

  43. Since the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in December 2019, many studies have reported the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the conjunctival sac of pa...

    Authors: Dongyu Guo, Jianhua Xia, Yang Wang, Xuhong Zhang, Ye Shen and Jian-Ping Tong
    Citation: Virology Journal 2020 17:97
    Content type: Case Report Published on:

  44. Coronaviruses (CoVs) primarily cause enzootic infections in birds and mammals but, in the last few decades, have shown to be capable of infecting humans as well. The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndro...

    Authors: Dewald Schoeman and Burtram C. Fielding
    Citation: Virology Journal 2019 16:69
    Content type: Review Published on:

  45. Following the initial isolation of porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) from pigs with diarrheal disease in the United States in 2014, the virus has been detected on swine farms in some provinces of China. To date...

    Authors: Shao-Lun Zhai, Wen-Kang Wei, Xiao-Peng Li, Xiao-Hui Wen, Xia Zhou, He Zhang, Dian-Hong Lv, Feng Li and Dan Wang
    Citation: Virology Journal 2016 13:136
    Content type: Research Published on:

  46. Bats have been implicated as the main reservoir of coronavirus (CoV). Thus the role of these hosts on the evolution and spread of CoVs currently deserve the attention of emerging diseases surveillance programs...

    Authors: Karen Miyuki Asano, Aline Santana Hora, Karin Côrrea Scheffer, Willian Oliveira Fahl, Keila Iamamoto, Enio Mori and Paulo Eduardo Brandão
    Citation: Virology Journal 2016 13:110
    Content type: Short report Published on:

    The Erratum to this article has been published in Virology Journal 2016 13:124

  47. Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) is a widely distributed pathogen, causing disease and economic losses in the cattle industry worldwide. Prevention of virus spread is impeded by a lack of basic knowledge concerning v...

    Authors: Veslemøy Sunniva Oma, Madeleine Tråvén, Stefan Alenius, Mette Myrmel and Maria Stokstad
    Citation: Virology Journal 2016 13:100
    Content type: Research Published on:

  49. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a highly contagious virus infecting pigs of all ages with high morbidity and mortality among newborn piglets. Currently, there is no effective vaccine available to pro...

    Authors: Niraj Makadiya, Robert Brownlie, Jan van den Hurk, Nathalie Berube, Brenda Allan, Volker Gerdts and Alexander Zakhartchouk
    Citation: Virology Journal 2016 13:57
    Content type: Research Published on:

  50. Infectious bronchitis is a severe disease caused by infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) that affects fowl flocks worldwide. The understanding of the mechanisms involved in IBV evolution and variation would provi...

    Authors: Gang Xu, Xiao-yu Liu, Ye Zhao, Yang Chen, Jing Zhao and Guo-zhong Zhang
    Citation: Virology Journal 2016 13:40
    Content type: Research Published on: