Coronaviruses are a family of RNA viruses that infect both animals and humans and cause respiratory tract diseases in humans.
The Name “coronavirus” is derived from the image of the Virus under the electron microscope. The Virus has a crown-shaped (from Latin: corona, crown) arranged Peplomere on its surface. These pointed envelope proteins, also called Spikes, determine the tropism of the Virus, i.e. its affinity to very specific host cells.
Coronaviruses occur worldwide and are usually transmitted via droplet infection. Numerous representatives are endemic among bats and pass from them as zoonosis to other animal species or to humans.