Overview of the current situation regarding the coronavirus

Coronaviruses (CoV) are pathogens that are transmitted to animals and humans; they spread around the world. Six types of coronavirus have been identified as causing human disease: four cause mild respiratory symptoms, while two types, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), have caused epidemics with high mortality rates. Human coronaviruses cause common cold, lead to lower respiratory tract infections and are involved in pediatric gastroenteritis. Currently, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has been transmitted between species, included humans, and is a very virulent respiratory virus, causing the disease known as COVID-19, which to date, has not an authorized medical treatment. The World Health Organization announced that the outbreak of COVID-19 has been upgraded from a health emergency to a pandemic. Therefore, the objectives of this paper are to mention the basic concepts of coronavirus (structure, genome, mutation and recombination), its epidemiological description, animal-human transmission mechanism, pathogenesis and therapeutics.