Credit FAO
# 8770
With dromedaries ranked high on the list of animal suspects for introducing the MERS coronavirus to humans (see WHO Update On MERS-CoV Transmission Risks From Animals To Humans), reports of an increased number of camel deaths in the UAE has understandably caught people’s attention (see last week’s ProMed Mail report UNDIAGNOSED MORTALITY, CAMEL - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (02): REQUEST FOR INFORMATION).
Thus far we’ve only seen reports of mild illness from MERS-CoV infection in camels (although research in this area is sorely lacking), making it probable that something other than the MERS coronavirus is at work here.
Still, the UAE has the second highest number of known human MERS infections in the world, and exactly how the virus is being seeded into the community remains unknown.
Yesterday Emirates 24/7 News (h/t Shiloh on FluTrackers) carried a lengthy report on these ongoing camel deaths, that – while it doesn’t answer the basic question as to the cause – does give us a better idea of the scope of the problem.
Dozens of camels die in UAE central region
National Council member claims 200 animals have died in the past few weeks
By Staff
Published Sunday, June 22, 2014
Livestock owners in the UAE’s Central Region fear the outbreak of an unknown virus, following the death of dozens of camels, the Arabic daily ‘Emarat Al Youm’ has reported.
Camel owners say this has caused them considerable financial damage and pushed them to go to expensive private veterinary clinics.
According to Musapah Bel Ajeed Al Ketbi, member of the National Council for the Central Region, about 200 camels had died in the past few weeks.
Al Ketbi told ‘Emarat Al Youm’ that the deaths of camel started in livestock breeding centres in the Central Region and spread to neighbouring Emirates.
An owner of breeding camels had lost two animals in the last two days, each worth about Dh200,000. Municipal vehicles have been carrying six dead camels per day for the past few weeks, he added.
Al Ketbi submitted a query to the Minister of Environment and Water, seeking reasons for the deaths of more than 200 camels in the Central Region and some areas of Dubai and Al Ain.
But Saif Al Shara’a said the ministry had not received any complaints from the camel breeders about mass deaths except for individual cases as a result of common diseases.
Al Shara’a added that the ministry had sent a medical team to the Central Region to investigate the matter after receiving Al Ketbi’s query .
We’ve no indication at this time that this increased camel mortality poses any human health risks, or that it is connected in any way to the MERS-CoV. That said, according to last week’s ProMed Mail report - the first cases began about 2 years ago – roughly the same time that MERS emerged in humans.
Why it has taken two years for `official notice’ to be taken of this outbreak isn’t clear, but hopefully now some answers will be forthcoming.
History has shown that perhaps 70% of the infectious diseases plaguing humans began in other species, and then adapted to people. This illustrates the importance of promoting the `One Health Concept’, where human, animal, and environmental health are all interconnected (see the One Health Initiative website).
Whether it is the emergence of a novel avian flu strain in China, the spread of a mosquito-borne emerging arbovirus in the Caribbean, or an unexplained illness in camels, what happens in animal health often ends up impacting human health as well.
For more on this inextricable link between human and animal health, you may wish to revisit:
FAO: Surge In Animal Disease Increases Zoonotic Threats
The Third Epidemiological Transition
EID Journal: Predicting Hotspots for Influenza Virus Reassortment
