deadly virus MERS Has Infected Camels at least since 1992

deadly virus MERS Has Infected Camels at least since 1992 -

Not only. New research suggests that a quarter of camels in Saudi Arabia can carry dangerous virus MERS.

Abdallahdjabi / Wikimedia Commons

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) first made headlines the world when it was discovered in 2012. But the new research shows that the virus was probably lurking in camels in Saudi Arabia since 1992 or even longer, and it is very common in animals today. The study suggests that undiscovered human cases may also have occurred in the last 2 decades.

MERS is caused by a coronavirus, a class of high pathogens on scientific watch list because another member, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus spread around the world in 03 killing more than 700 people. The syndrome has sickened 182 and killed 80 people so far, but it does not spread from one person to another as easily as SARS did. This suggests that most patients have contracted the virus from animals. SARS probably originated in bats and transmitted to humans through civets. But scientists studying SEAS finding more and more evidence showing camels as a source.

Last summer, researchers reported finding antibodies against the virus signaling either a past or current infection in the blood of retired racing camels Oman, but not in cows, goats or sheep. Since then, studies have also reported such antibodies in camels from Qatar, Jordan and Egypt. One study found antibodies against MERS in samples of camels kept cold blood in the United Arab Emirates since 03. At least one team as antibodies found in recent samples of camels in Saudi Arabia, the country that saw the most human cases. But many scientists are frustrated by the lack of information emerged from this important country so far.

The study of MERS virus was fraught with other difficulties too. For example, import samples of camels and other animals in the United States is hampered by fears FMD, a highly infectious disease that infects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle and pigs; Meanwhile, research resources in affected countries in the Middle East are limited. To address these problems, Columbia University virologist Ian Lipkin built a mobile laboratory and sent to Saudi Arabia late last year. "Two thermal cyclers, a nucleic acid extractor robotics, tools for serology, all this equipment went there in six cases Pelican," he said.

with Saudi colleagues, researchers equipment used to test 203 camels from different parts of Saudi Arabia. They found antibodies against the MERS virus in 150 of them. They also found the virus RNA in the rectal or nasal sampling 51 animals, a sign that they harbored the virus at the time of testing. the viral sequences closely match those of human patients. Because the nasal swabs gave most viruses, the most likely scenario is airborne agent pathogen, the authors write in MBIO today.

the researchers also examined more than 100 camel serum samples from an archive dating back to 1992 and found antibodies against MERS in almost all. "This virus has clearly been camels since at least 1992," says Lipkin.

The document adds to the evidence increasingly on the animal reservoir of MERS, said Marion Koopmans, a researcher in infectious diseases at the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, in the Nederlands. "It is now indisputable that these viruses circulate among the camels," she wrote in an email.

Bart Haagmans, a virologist at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, says he is surprised that viral RNA could be found in a large number of animals. "you do not expect to find a virus from a respiratory infection in nearly one in four animals," he said. he suggested that the virus known to remain in the camel population very well. it is not known if the virus actually makes camels sick, but it seems to infect many camels at a young age, said Haagmans. most scientists agree that studies of camels infected over time are needed to know how long they can harbor the virus.

Find antibodies in samples of 22 years raises the question of why the first known date human patients from 2012, Koopmans said. "Having human cases has failed before, or has something changed in the making camels virus transmitted to humans?" To address this issue, scientists would have to look older samples from Middle East patients with respiratory disease and those who are not available, she wrote.

human

What MERS was infective for 2 decades or 2 years, there is still a real danger that it will begin broadcasting between people more quickly and trigger a pandemic, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for research on infectious diseases and politics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. "We are now at the second level of concern", he said, because MERS is not only a dangerous virus in animals but overflows into the human population, again and again. "The third level could happen tomorrow."

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