[General introduction to animal and human coronaviruses]

Coronaviruses are RNA viruses classified into Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus, Gammacoronavirus and Deltacoronavirus. Their name comes from their conformation with the observation of spicules forming a sort of crown. Coronaviruses seem to come from bats, and more particularly Alphacoronaviruses and Betacoronaviruses (the genus where zoonoses are observed), while birds are the source of Gammacoronaviruses and Deltacoronaviruses. The first coronavirus identified was that of avian infectious bronchitis in 1931 in the United States, while the first coronaviruses were described in humans only in the 1960s. This is why coronaviruses were mainly known in the veterinary community. Most Alphacoronaviruses are species specific. They can be responsible for serious diseases such as the cat coronavirus, responsible for feline infectious peritonitis, transmissible gastroenteritis (GET) in piglets and porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), porcine respiratory coronavirus (PRCV). Finally, a deltacoronavirus can be found in both pigs (PD CoV UKU15) and birds.