Coronaviruses in Animal Health and Disease

Coronaviruses constitute a large family of enveloped positive-sense RNA viruses that infect a diverse array of mammalian and avian hosts. Their genomes, among the largest of RNA viruses, encode structural proteins—including the spike glycoprotein responsible for host-cell entry—and a suite of non-structural proteins that orchestrate genome replication and immune evasion. In animals, coronaviruses cause respiratory, enteric and systemic syndromes ranging from mild subclinical infections to severe outbreaks with high morbidity and mortality. Bovine coronavirus, equine coronavirus and porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus exemplify viruses of major veterinary importance, inflicting economic losses in livestock industries worldwide. The capacity of certain coronaviruses to cross species barriers—evidenced by detections in wildlife, companion animals and humans—underscores their zoonotic potential and the necessity of integrated surveillance under a One Health framework. Advances in molecular diagnostics, vaccine platforms and host-pathogen interaction studies are informing more effective biosecurity measures, therapeutic approaches and vaccination strategies across species.

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Coronaviruses in Animal Health and Disease publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in coronaviruses in animal health and disease across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Betacoronavirus: A genus of coronaviruses that includes many mammalian pathogens characterised by zoonotic potential and respiratory or enteric tropism.

Tissue tropism: The propensity of a virus to infect particular cell types or organs within a host species.

Seroprevalence: The proportion of individuals in a population with detectable antibodies against a pathogen, indicating prior exposure.

MicroRNA (miRNA): Small non-coding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally and can influence viral replication and immune responses.

Zoonosis: A disease or infection that is naturally transmissible between vertebrate animals and humans.

References

1. Investigation of the seroprevalence to equine coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2 in healthy adult horses recently imported to the United States. Veterinary Quarterly (2024).
2. The Potential Roles of Host Cell miRNAs in Fine-Tuning Bovine Coronavirus (BCoV) Molecular Pathogenesis, Tissue Tropism, and Immune Regulation. Microorganisms (2024).
3. Advances in Bovine Coronavirus Epidemiology. Viruses (2022).