Coronaviruses

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that provoke mild or moderate upper-respiratory-tract infections in people. Despite there are a great amount of discovered coronaviruses, most of them are circulating only among animals, especially bats (Banerjee et al. 2019).

Nevertheless, some of the species cause illnesses among humans as well. In the 21st century, three times the outbreaks of coronavirus-related diseases occurred due to the transmission of the viruses from animals to humans. These viruses were severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, SARS-CoV (2002–2004), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, MERS-CoV (since 2012), and now a new strain of SARS-related coronavirus, 2019-nCoV or SARS-CoV-2 (since December 2019). This post maps the most cited and the newest scientific publications on the topic of coronaviruses.

For the review, we have performed a systematic search of the literature on coronaviruses in the scientific literature database Web of Science and have built maps of publications based on their reference lists. Below with the help of Figure 1, we discuss the most cited publications. On page 2, Figure 2 shows the newest ones. Proximity in these maps and belonging to the same cluster mean that the papers cite the same publications, therefore the papers are likely to consider similar issues. The maps are built using VOSviewer software.

The most cited papers

They split into four clusters:

• navy, top left: SARS-CoV,
• purple, center: SARS-CoV and the discovery of new coronaviruses,
• yellow, bottom left: MERS-CoV, or hCoV-EMC,
• blue, right: coronaviruses among animals.

Cluster description

Navy cluster includes the articles on the SARS-CoV coronavirus, including its origin, detection, and its distinguishing features. However, one of the most cited articles is devoted to the identification of the fourth detected human coronavirus: HCoV-NL63.

Purple cluster contains the studies comparing SARS-CoV with other coronaviruses – for example, its other strain MERS-CoV, another human coronavirus CoV-HKU1, and bat coronavirus bat-SARS-CoV.

Yellow cluster is fully devoted to MERS-CoV (also called hCoV-EMC), a coronavirus whose first outbreak occurred in September 2012. Publications describe the main symptoms of the disease, such as fever, cough and shortness of breath, and its transmission. 

Blue cluster is located far to the right from the others, since it is dedicated to the coronaviruses that infect animals, especially pigs. However, between this cluster and the others, there is located an article by Marco Marra (Marra et al. 2003), one of the most cited papers within both the blue cluster and the whole map. It is tightly connected with articles from both sides of the network probably because it reports on the spreading of coronaviruses among both animals and humans.

Bibliography

Key papers

• Drosten, Christian, Stephan Günther, Wolfgang Preiser, Sylvie van der Werf, Hans-Reinhard Brodt, Stephan Becker, Holger Rabenau, Marcus Panning, Larissa Kolesnikova, Ron A. M. Fouchier, Annemarie Berger, Ana-Maria Burguière, Jindrich Cinatl, Markus Eickmann, Nicolas Escriou, Klaus Grywna, Stefanie Kramme, Jean-Claude Manuguerra, Stefanie Müller, Volker Rickerts, Martin Stürmer, Simon Vieth, Hans-Dieter Klenk, Albert D. M. E. Osterhaus, Herbert Schmitz, and Hans Wilhelm Doerr. 2003. “Identification of a Novel Coronavirus in Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.” New England Journal of Medicine 348(20):1967–76.
• Marra, Marco A., Steven J. M. Jones, Caroline R. Astell, Robert A. Holt, Angela Brooks-Wilson, Yaron S. N. Butterfield, Jaswinder Khattra, Jennifer K. Asano, Sarah A. Barber, Susanna Y. Chan, Alison Cloutier, Shaun M. Coughlin, Doug Freeman, Noreen Girn, Obi L. Griffith, Stephen R. Leach, Michael Mayo, Helen McDonald, Stephen B. Montgomery, Pawan K. Pandoh, Anca S. Petrescu, A. Gordon Robertson, Jacqueline E. Schein, Asim Siddiqui, Duane E. Smailus, Jeff M. Stott, George S. Yang, Francis Plummer, Anton Andonov, Harvey Artsob, Nathalie Bastien, Kathy Bernard, Timothy F. Booth, Donnie Bowness, Martin Czub, Michael Drebot, Lisa Fernando, Ramon Flick, Michael Garbutt, Michael Gray, Allen Grolla, Steven Jones, Heinz Feldmann, Adrienne Meyers, Amin Kabani, Yan Li, Susan Normand, Ute Stroher, Graham A. Tipples, Shaun Tyler, Robert Vogrig, Diane Ward, Brynn Watson, Robert C. Brunham, Mel Krajden, Martin Petric, Danuta M. Skowronski, Chris Upton, and Rachel L. Roper. 2003. ‘The Genome Sequence of the SARS-Associated Coronavirus’. Science 300(5624):1399–1404.
• Rota, Paul A., M. Steven Oberste, Stephan S. Monroe, W. Allan Nix, Ray Campagnoli, Joseph P. Icenogle, Silvia Peñaranda, Bettina Bankamp, Kaija Maher, Min-hsin Chen, Suxiong Tong, Azaibi Tamin, Luis Lowe, Michael Frace, Joseph L. DeRisi, Qi Chen, David Wang, Dean D. Erdman, Teresa C. T. Peret, Cara Burns, Thomas G. Ksiazek, Pierre E. Rollin, Anthony Sanchez, Stephanie Liffick, Brian Holloway, Josef Limor, Karen McCaustland, Melissa Olsen-Rasmussen, Ron Fouchier, Stephan Günther, Albert D. M. E. Osterhaus, Christian Drosten, Mark A. Pallansch, Larry J. Anderson, and William J. Bellini. 2003. ‘Characterization of a Novel Coronavirus Associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome’. Science 300(5624):1394–99.
• Zaki, Ali M., Sander van Boheemen, Theo M. Bestebroer, Albert D. M. E. Osterhaus, and Ron A. M. Fouchier. 2012. ‘Isolation of a Novel Coronavirus from a Man with Pneumonia in Saudi Arabia’. New England Journal of Medicine 367(19):1814–20.2

General reviews

• Calisher, Charles H., James E. Childs, Hume E. Field, Kathryn V. Holmes, and Tony Schountz. 2006. “Bats: Important Reservoir Hosts of Emerging Viruses.” Clinical Microbiology Reviews 19(3):531–45.
• Cheng, Vincent C. C., Susanna K. P. Lau, Patrick C. Y. Woo, and Kwok Yung Yuen. 2007. “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus as an Agent of Emerging and Reemerging Infection.” Clinical Microbiology Reviews 20(4):660–94.
• Fraser, Christophe, Steven Riley, Roy M. Anderson, and Neil M. Ferguson. 2004. “Factors That Make an Infectious Disease Outbreak Controllable.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101(16):6146–51.
• Peiris, Joseph S. M., Kwok Y. Yuen, Albert D. M. E. Osterhaus, and Klaus Stöhr. 2003. “The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.” New England Journal of Medicine 349(25):2431–41.
• Perlman, Stanley, and Jason Netland. 2009. “Coronaviruses Post-SARS: Update on Replication and Pathogenesis.” Nature Reviews Microbiology 7(6):439–50.

Navy cluster: SARS-CoV

• Anand, Kanchan, John Ziebuhr, Parvesh Wadhwani, Jeroen R. Mesters, and Rolf Hilgenfeld. 2003. ‘Coronavirus Main Proteinase (3CLpro) Structure: Basis for Design of Anti-SARS Drugs’. Science 300(5626):1763–67.
• Guan, Y., B. J. Zheng, Y. Q. He, X. L. Liu, Z. X. Zhuang, C. L. Cheung, S. W. Luo, P. H. Li, L. J. Zhang, Y. J. Guan, K. M. Butt, K. L. Wong, K. W. Chan, W. Lim, K. F. Shortridge, K. Y. Yuen, J. S. M. Peiris, and L. L. M. Poon. 2003. ‘Isolation and Characterization of Viruses Related to the SARS Coronavirus from Animals in Southern China’. Science 302(5643):276–78.
• Kuiken, Thijs, Ron AM Fouchier, Martin Schutten, Guus F. Rimmelzwaan, Geert van Amerongen, Debby van Riel, Jon D. Laman, Ton de Jong, Gerard van Doornum, Wilina Lim, Ai Ee Ling, Paul KS Chan, John S. Tam, Maria C. Zambon, Robin Gopal, Christian Drosten, Sylvie van der Werf, Nicolas Escriou, Jean-Claude Manuguerra, Klaus Stöhr, J. S. Malik Peiris, and Albert DME Osterhaus. 2003. ‘Newly Discovered Coronavirus as the Primary Cause of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome’. The Lancet 362(9380):263–70.
• Li, Wendong, Zhengli Shi, Meng Yu, Wuze Ren, Craig Smith, Jonathan H. Epstein, Hanzhong Wang, Gary Crameri, Zhihong Hu, Huajun Zhang, Jianhong Zhang, Jennifer McEachern, Hume Field, Peter Daszak, Bryan T. Eaton, Shuyi Zhang, and Lin-Fa Wang. 2005. ‘Bats Are Natural Reservoirs of SARS-Like Coronaviruses’. Science 310(5748):676–79.
• Riley, Steven, Christophe Fraser, Christl A. Donnelly, Azra C. Ghani, Laith J. Abu-Raddad, Anthony J. Hedley, Gabriel M. Leung, Lai-Ming Ho, Tai-Hing Lam, Thuan Q. Thach, Patsy Chau, King-Pan Chan, Su-Vui Lo, Pak-Yin Leung, Thomas Tsang, William Ho, Koon-Hung Lee, Edith M. C. Lau, Neil M. Ferguson, and Roy M. Anderson. 2003. “Transmission Dynamics of the Etiological Agent of SARS in Hong Kong: Impact of Public Health Interventions.” Science 300(5627):1961–66.
• van der Hoek, Lia, Krzysztof Pyrc, Maarten F. Jebbink, Wilma Vermeulen-Oost, Ron J. M. Berkhout, Katja C. Wolthers, Pauline M. E. Wertheim-van Dillen, Jos Kaandorp, Joke Spaargaren, and Ben Berkhout. 2004. ‘Identification of a New Human Coronavirus’. Nature Medicine 10(4):368–73.

Purple cluster: SARS-CoV and novel coronaviruses

• Knoops, Kèvin, Marjolein Kikkert, Sjoerd H. E. van den Worm, Jessika C. Zevenhoven-Dobbe, Yvonne van der Meer, Abraham J. Koster, A. Mieke Mommaas, and Eric J. Snijder. 2008. “SARS-Coronavirus Replication Is Supported by a Reticulovesicular Network of Modified Endoplasmic Reticulum” edited by M. Emerman. PLoS Biology 6(9):e226.
• Lau, Susanna K. P., P. C. Y. Woo, K. S. M. Li, Y. Huang, H. W. Tsoi, B. H. L. Wong, S. S. Y. Wong, S. Y. Leung, K. H. Chan, and K. Y. Yuen. 2005. “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-like Virus in Chinese Horseshoe Bats.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102(39):14040–45.
• Snijder, Eric J., Peter J. Bredenbeek, Jessika C. Dobbe, Volker Thiel, John Ziebuhr, Leo L. M. Poon, Yi Guan, Mikhail Rozanov, Willy J. M. Spaan, and Alexander E. Gorbalenya. 2003. “Unique and Conserved Features of Genome and Proteome of SARS-Coronavirus, an Early Split-off From the Coronavirus Group 2 Lineage.” Journal of Molecular Biology 331(5):991–1004.
• van Boheemen, Sander, Miranda de Graaf, Chris Lauber, Theo M. Bestebroer, V. Stalin Raj, Ali Moh Zaki, Albert D. M. E. Osterhaus, Bart L. Haagmans, Alexander E. Gorbalenya, Eric J. Snijder, and Ron A. M. Fouchier. 2012. ‘Genomic Characterization of a Newly Discovered Coronavirus Associated with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Humans’. MBio 3(6).
• Woo, Patrick C. Y., Susanna K. P. Lau, Chung-ming Chu, Kwok-hung Chan, Hoi-wah Tsoi, Yi Huang, Beatrice H. L. Wong, Rosana W. S. Poon, James J. Cai, Wei-kwang Luk, Leo L. M. Poon, Samson S. Y. Wong, Yi Guan, J. S. Malik Peiris, and Kwok-yung Yuen. 2005. ‘Characterization and Complete Genome Sequence of a Novel Coronavirus, Coronavirus HKU1, from Patients with Pneumonia’. Journal of Virology 79(2):884–95.

Yellow cluster: MERS-CoV and hCoV-EMC

• Assiri, Abdullah, Jaffar A. Al-Tawfiq, Abdullah A. Al-Rabeeah, Fahad A. Al-Rabiah, Sami Al-Hajjar, Ali Al-Barrak, Hesham Flemban, Wafa N. Al-Nassir, Hanan H. Balkhy, Rafat F. Al-Hakeem, Hatem Q. Makhdoom, Alimuddin I. Zumla, and Ziad A. Memish. 2013. “Epidemiological, Demographic, and Clinical Characteristics of 47 Cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Disease from Saudi Arabia: A Descriptive Study.” The Lancet Infectious Diseases 13(9):752–61.
• Azhar, Esam I., Sherif A. El-Kafrawy, Suha A. Farraj, Ahmed M. Hassan, Muneera S. Al-Saeed, Anwar M. Hashem, and Tariq A. Madani. 2014. “Evidence for Camel-to-Human Transmission of MERS Coronavirus.” New England Journal of Medicine.
• Raj, V. Stalin, Huihui Mou, Saskia L. Smits, Dick H. W. Dekkers, Marcel A. Müller, Ronald Dijkman, Doreen Muth, Jeroen A. A. Demmers, Ali Zaki, Ron A. M. Fouchier, Volker Thiel, Christian Drosten, Peter J. M. Rottier, Albert D. M. E. Osterhaus, Berend Jan Bosch, and Bart L. Haagmans. 2013. ‘Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 Is a Functional Receptor for the Emerging Human Coronavirus-EMC’. Nature 495(7440):251–54.
• Reusken, Chantal BEM, Bart L. Haagmans, Marcel A. Müller, Carlos Gutierrez, Gert-Jan Godeke, Benjamin Meyer, Doreen Muth, V. Stalin Raj, Laura Smits-De Vries, Victor M. Corman, Jan-Felix Drexler, Saskia L. Smits, Yasmin E. El Tahir, Rita De Sousa, Janko van Beek, Norbert Nowotny, Kees van Maanen, Ezequiel Hidalgo-Hermoso, Berend-Jan Bosch, Peter Rottier, Albert Osterhaus, Christian Gortázar-Schmidt, Christian Drosten, and Marion PG Koopmans. 2013. ‘Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Neutralising Serum Antibodies in Dromedary Camels: A Comparative Serological Study’. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 13(10):859–66.

Blue cluster: animal coronaviruses

• Martina, Byron E. E., Bart L. Haagmans, Thijs Kuiken, Ron A. M. Fouchier, Guus F. Rimmelzwaan, Geert van Amerongen, J. S. Malik Peiris, Wilina Lim, and Albert D. M. E. Osterhaus. 2003. “SARS Virus Infection of Cats and Ferrets.” Nature 425(6961):915–915.
• Pensaert, M. B., and P. de Bouck. 1978. “A New Coronavirus-like Particle Associated with Diarrhea in Swine.” Archives of Virology 58(3):243–47.
• Song, Daesub, and Bongkyun Park. 2012. ‘Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea Virus: A Comprehensive Review of Molecular Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Vaccines’. Virus Genes 44(2):167–75.

Please proceed to page 2 to see the science map and literature recommendations for the most recent publications on coronaviruses.