Human coronavirus OC43
species of virus
Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) is a member of the species Betacoronavirus gravedinis, which infects humans and cattle. The infecting coronavirus is an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus that enters its host cell by binding to the N-acetyl-9-O-acetylneuraminic acid receptor. OC43 is one of seven coronaviruses known to infect humans. It is one of the viruses responsible for the common cold and may have been responsible for the 1889–1890 pandemic. It has, like other coronaviruses from genus Betacoronavirus, subgenus Embecovirus, an additional shorter spike protein called hemagglutinin-esterase (HE). Genetic and antigenic analyses reveal significant similarities between HCoV-OC43 and bovine coronavirus (BCoV), suggesting a zoonotic transmission event from cattle to humans. Molecular analyses estimate that this cross-species transmission occurred sometime in the late 19th century, possibly around 1890. This period aligns with the "Russian Influenza" pandemic that occurred from 1889 -1892. This has led some researchers to theorize that HCoV-OC43 may have been the causative agent of that pandemic, rather than the influenza virus. This theory is further supported by phylogenetic studies indicating a recent common ancestor between HCoV-OC43 and BCoV around that time.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Human coronavirus OC43” is species of virus. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Human, coronavirus and OC43, not as a finished interpretation.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16991954. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1889, 1890 and 1892.
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This entry incorporates text from “Human coronavirus OC43” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.