Abstract:The highly pathogenic human coronaviruses, mainly including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), have posed great threat to the public health and global economy. Although these zoonotic coronaviruses have common properties, each of them has their own characteristics in epidemics and mutations. This review focuses on the comparison of the pathogenicity, epidemiology and mutations of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV to reveal their common and distinct properties, for the purpose of providing information for developing more advanced systems and strategies to monitor and control the future epidemics of the highly pathogenic human coronaviruses.