Coronavirus: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Pathogenesis and Control

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few decades, there has been an increase and expansion of viral infections. Not only are new viral infections emerging, but the previously known ones are also changing their pathogenicity and covering new types of hosts and populations. In response to this expansion of viral infections, there has been an intensification of virological research. Viruses are now considered molecular parasites at the genetic level and are known to have unsuspected ecological circulation. Despite serious successes in the field of diagnostics and therapy, the development of viral infections is still difficult to predict.

Based on genetic, serological, and virological analyses, it has been concluded that all coronaviruses infecting humans originate from farm animals, bats, or rodents, with different and likely intermediate hosts, such as llamas, camels, civets, pangolins, or cattle. Therefore, coronavirus infections are zoonoses and understanding their zoonotic origin is a key factor in combating them.

SARS-CoV-2 emerged as a respiratory disease, with its emergence being incompletely understood, despite suggestions that the virus originated from two bat variants of SARS-like coronaviruses that passed through an intermediate host.

The diagnosis of COVID-19 disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection is primarily based on the observed clinical picture and related clinical samples, which include nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, oropharyngeal (OP) swabs, saliva samples, etc.

For pathogen diagnostics, in addition to routine molecular biological, serological, and virological methods, new proposed techniques that will shorten the diagnostic algorithm are emerging. In order to understand the meaning of choosing and applying a method in laboratory diagnostics, one must know the basic principles and working mechanisms of chosen methods and the resulting advantages and disadvantages. All this information affects the choice of methods used for conducting routine diagnostics that determine the presence of a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Dr. Ivo Nikolaev Sirakov
Dr. Stoyan Angelov Shishkov
Guest Editors

Dr. Kalina Shishkova
Guest Editor Assistant

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• coronaviruses
• epidemiology
• SARS-CoV-2
• hosts
• molecular methods
• diagnostics
• serology
• pandemic spread
• post-pandemic