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While the debate over the role of camels in the carriage, and potential spread of the MERS coronavirus rages in Saudi Arabia (see Saudi MOA Spokesman: Camel Link Unproven, MERS-CoV Is MOH Problem) the scientific evidence continues to accumulate that camels are a large part of the MERS equation.
Some recent examples include:
EID Journal: MERS Coronavirus In A Saudi Dromedary Herd
CIDRAP NEWS report WHO sees camels as MERS source, but route uncertain)
EID Journal: MERS Coronaviruses in Dromedary Camels, Egypt
Last night Robert Roos and Lisa Schnirring, writing for CIDRAP News, brought us details of the latest study that found evidence of MERS antibodies in camels from Nigeria, Tunisia, and Ethiopia – considerably expanding the geographic range of this virus.
The EID Journal study also raises the possibility that human infections in these regions may have gone undetected - a distinct possibility in areas where medical resources are low and mortality rates are high – and suggest a retrospective study of respiratory illnesses of unknown etiology in the region be undertaken to clarify the situation.
Antibody study hints at MERS-CoV in African camels
Lisa Schnirring and Robert Roos | Staff Writers | CIDRAP News
Apr 22, 2014
- Using serum samples collected before 2012, researchers found antibodies to MERS-CoV or a very similar virus in camels in Nigeria, Tunisia, and Ethiopia.
Dromedary camels in widely separated parts of Africa were exposed to the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) or a closely related virus well before the first human case was detected, researchers from the Netherlands and Africa reported yesterday.
The discovery of MERS-CoV–like antibodies in camels in Nigeria, Tunisia, and Ethiopia expands the geographic range of the virus beyond the Middle East and raises the possibility of unrecognized human cases in Africa, according to the findings, published in an early online report from Emerging Infectious Diseases.
