[Petrochemicals (OP)]

Which viruses are likely to mutate to create the problems seen in the current corona outbreak?

Rhino viruses are responsible for the majority of cold viruses, flu viruses are always a concern, corona viruses have a proven track record.

[evan_au]

It's not the "common cold" viruses to which we have become accustomed that are a real problem - if we have already been infected many times by a virus, small genetic changes will still leave us with many antibody targets on the virus that can still be recognised - perhaps producing an outbreak that is a bit worse than average.

Influenza is continually mixing up its genes, but we are familiar with that. This is most likely to occur when people are living in close proximity with animals, so that (for example) a pig and human influenza virus can swap genes, becoming a novel pathogen to which we have no immunity.

It is thought that the most severe viruses are those which are new to humans - and these are most likely to jump into humans from animal reservoirs. Bats seem to be a common source.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoonosis