Coronavirus-COVID-19.jpg

Illustration of a coronavirus with spikes around outer surface of round ball

Illustration by CDC / Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAMS

This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically.