Coronavirus surveillance is the continuous, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data on coronavirus infections to guide public-health action. It tracks the occurrence, distribution, and characteristics of these enveloped RNA viruses in human and animal populations and in the environment, providing…
Coronavirus surveillance is the continuous, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data on coronavirus infections to guide public-health action. It tracks the occurrence, distribution, and characteristics of these enveloped RNA viruses in human and animal populations and in the environment, providing the situational awareness needed to detect emergence, monitor spread, and evaluate interventions. Surveillance operates through several complementary streams: case-based and syndromic reporting of respiratory illness, laboratory testing to confirm infection, genomic sequencing to identify and follow circulating lineages and variants, serological studies that estimate prior exposure, and wastewater monitoring that captures community-level signals independent of clinical testing. Because coronaviruses have animal reservoirs and a history of cross-species spillover, effective systems extend beyond human medicine to encompass animal and ecological monitoring under a One Health framing. The data generated support early warning of outbreaks, estimation of transmission intensity, characterisation of clinical severity, assessment of vaccine and treatment performance, and the targeting of control measures. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated both the value of timely, integrated surveillance and the consequences of gaps in detection and reporting. Robust coronavirus surveillance depends on standardised case definitions, laboratory and sequencing capacity, rapid data sharing, and coordination across jurisdictions, and it forms a core component of preparedness for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.
5 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 5 articles above have been cited 10 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Coronavirus Surveillance, linking to each citing work.