History of Coronavirus in Timeline
Coronaviruses are a family of RNA viruses affecting mammals and birds, causing respiratory illnesses of varying severity. In humans, these range from the common cold to severe and potentially fatal diseases like SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. Other animals experience different symptoms; for example, cows and pigs suffer from diarrhea, while mice can develop hepatitis and encephalomyelitis.
1931: First Detailed Report of Coronavirus Infection in Chickens
In 1931, Arthur Schalk and M.C. Hawn made the first detailed report describing a new respiratory infection of chickens in North Dakota.
1933: Isolation of Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV)
In 1933, Leland David Bushnell and Carl Alfred Brandly isolated the virus that caused the respiratory infection in chickens, later known as infectious bronchitis virus (IBV).
1937: First Cultivation of IBV
In 1937, Charles D. Hudson and Fred Robert Beaudette cultivated the infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) for the first time, with the specimen becoming known as the Beaudette strain.
1960: Divergence of Alpaca Coronavirus and Human Coronavirus 229E
Sometime before 1960, alpaca coronavirus and human coronavirus 229E diverged.
1961: Collection of B814 Virus
In 1961, E.C. Kendall, Malcolm Bynoe, and David Tyrrell collected a unique common cold virus designated B814 at the British Medical Research Council.
1962: Isolation of 229E Virus
In 1962, Dorothy Hamre and John Procknow at the University of Chicago isolated a novel cold virus from medical students, designating it 229E and growing it in kidney tissue culture.
1965: Cultivation of B814 Virus
In 1965, Tyrrell and Bynoe successfully cultivated the B814 virus by serially passing it through organ culture of human embryonic trachea.
1967: Morphological Relation of Viruses Shown
In 1967, June Almeida, collaborating with Tyrrell, compared the structures of IBV, B814 and 229E using electron microscopy and showed they were morphologically related.
1968: Coronavirus Family Designated
In 1968, an informal group of virologists first used the word "coronavirus" in print in the journal Nature to designate the new family of viruses, named for their crown-like appearance under electron microscopy.
1971: Coronavirus Accepted as Genus Name
In 1971, the scientific name Coronavirus was accepted as a genus name by the International Committee for the Nomenclature of Viruses.
1986: Divergence of Bat Coronavirus and SARS-CoV
In 1986, the most closely related bat coronavirus and SARS-CoV diverged.
2003: Identification of SARS-CoV
In 2003, the SARS-CoV virus was identified.
2003: WHO Identifies Novel Coronavirus as SARS Causative Agent
In 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that a novel coronavirus was the causative agent for SARS, officially named SARS-CoV, after an outbreak that infected over 8,000 people and caused at least 774 deaths.
2003: Discovery of SARS-CoV Pathogenesis
In 2003, the human coronavirus SARS-CoV was discovered to cause both upper and lower respiratory tract infections, a unique pathogenesis.
2004: Identification of HCoV HKU1
In 2004, the HCoV HKU1 virus was identified.
2009: Coronavirus Genus Split
In 2009, the Coronavirus genus was split into four genera: Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus, Deltacoronavirus, and Gammacoronavirus.
September 2012: Identification of Novel Coronavirus 2012 (MERS-CoV)
In September 2012, a new type of coronavirus was identified, initially called Novel Coronavirus 2012, later named Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), prompting a global alert from the World Health Organization.
October 2013: MERS-CoV Cases and Deaths in Saudi Arabia
By October 30, 2013, there were 124 cases and 52 deaths in Saudi Arabia due to MERS-CoV.
2013: Identification of MERS-CoV
In 2013, the MERS-CoV virus was identified.
May 2014: First U.S. Cases of MERS-CoV Recorded
In May 2014, the only U.S. cases of MERS-CoV (both survived) were recorded.
May 2015: MERS-CoV Outbreak in South Korea
In May 2015, an outbreak of MERS-CoV occurred in the Republic of Korea after a man who had traveled to the Middle East visited four hospitals in the Seoul area.
2018: Identification of Canine Coronavirus Strain Infecting Humans
In 2018, during a surveillance study of archived samples of Malaysian viral pneumonia patients, virologists identified a strain of canine coronavirus which has infected humans.
December 2019: Global MERS-CoV Statistics
As of December 2019, 2,468 cases of MERS-CoV infection had been confirmed by laboratory tests, 851 of which were fatal, a mortality rate of approximately 34.5%.
December 2019: Pneumonia Outbreak in Wuhan Traced to Novel Coronavirus
In December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak was reported in Wuhan, China, and traced to a novel strain of coronavirus named 2019-nCoV by the World Health Organization, later renamed SARS-CoV-2.
2019: Identification of SARS-CoV-2
In 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 virus was identified.
2020: Coronavirus Species Count
As of 2020, there are 45 officially recognised coronavirus species.
March 2023: COVID-19 Pandemic Statistics
As of March 2023, the COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in at least 6,881,955 confirmed deaths and more than 676,609,955 confirmed cases globally. The Wuhan strain was identified as a new strain of Betacoronavirus from group 2B.
