A LITERATURE REVIEW OF NOVEL COVID-19 AND RELATED CORONAVIRUSES OUTBREAKS IN THE 1960S UNTIL 21ST CENTURY

Abstract

Coronavirus (CoVs) is a large group of viruses known to affect birds and mammals including humans. This review aims to present the types of human coronavirus and animal coronavirus studied and displaying the relationships of these coronaviruses to weather, meteorology and climatology. Human coronaviruses (HCoV) in review are namely 229E, NL63, OC43 and HKU1 and other HCoV which are Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). These HcoV originated as animal infections which then develop and ultimately transmitted to humans. CoV can also be found in animals which are Canine Respiratory Coronavirus (CRCoV), Murine Coronavirus Rat Hepatitis Virus (MHV), Transmissible Gastroenteritis Virus (TGEV), Bovine Coronavirus (BCoV), Feline Coronavirus (FCoV), Canine Coronavirus (CCoV) and Turkey Coronavirus (TCV). CoV has been found to last longer in the atmosphere at lower temperatures and lower relative humidity. Thus, some coronavirus outbreaks can mostly be attributed to cold and dry climates for more effective CoV transmission. Identified CoV are mostly active when the temperature is between 9 °C and 24 °C. Findings in this review can serve as knowledge and guidance for individuals, related organizations and governments to be prepared for the CoV threats that is currently occurring and that is likely to re-emerge in the coming years. It is also intended to provide useful baseline information for policymakers and the public. KEYWORDS: climatology, coronavirus (CoVs), human coronaviruses (HCoV), meteorology, weather