The virus that causes the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) was found in camel milk. Scientists do not know if the infected milk may put people off, but experts say the results are sufficient to warn against raw camel milk consumption, a widespread tradition in the Middle East right. The Qatari government has published new guidelines recommending that milk be boiled before consumption
The new findings come from a group of researchers from the Supreme Council of Health in Qatar. Ministry of Environment of the country; Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands; and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and Environment. They were announced at a press conference in Doha on Wednesday, and a document about them has been submitted to the journal Eurosurveillance today, says virologist Chantal Erasmus MC Reusken, the first author.
The researchers also found that nearly one in 10 who come into contact with camels at work have antibodies against MERS, a sign that they were infected with the virus at some point, although none of them was very sick of it.
Nearly 2 years after MERS emerged, it is still unclear how many patients are infected. Direct transmission occurs between people, and most of the more than 500 new cases of MERS as Saudi Arabia reported over the last 3 months seem to have occurred in hospitals due to inadequate controls infections. But there is no evidence of widespread human to human transmission outside of hospitals. And the researchers found more and more evidence that contact with camels may be a risk factor for MERS. Camels in nine countries in the Middle East and Africa were found to be infected with MERS and the virus seems to jump camel for people, the researchers reported. But how and where it crosses the species barrier is still very uncertain.
The international team working in Qatar has collected thousands of samples from animals, people and the environment and tested them for evidence of the virus or antibodies against it; their samples included milking camels at two locations in Qatar. Among the animals that shed virus from their nose or their faeces signaling an active infection more than half also had the virus RNA in their milk.
The milk was obtained using traditional methods, in which breasts aren 't cleaned regularly before milking and a calf is allowed to suckle for the milk flow started. As a result, the researchers can not say whether the infected camels secrete the virus directly into the milk; it is possible that the milk is contaminated through the saliva, traces of feces or the teat calves hands. It is also unclear whether humans can get sick from drinking unpasteurized milk, said Marion Koopmans, who heads the Dutch group.
In another recent study, researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the United States showed that MERS live virus added to pasteurized camel milk could survive for 3 days.
The World Health Organization (WHO) will soon issue revised guidelines, as the government of Qatar, recommend against raw milk consumption, said Peter Ben Embarek, a specialist in diseases of foodborne at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland; he says it never a good idea
Camel meat could be another route of transmission. the researchers found that 13% of lymph node samples collected at slaughter contained the virus. But they can not say whether this means that the meat is actually contaminated, or how much risk it poses to consumers.
The team also found that 8.7% of workers in camel farms and slaughter a camel had antibodies to the virus. The fact that none of them reported a serious illness suggests that MERS may be more common than scientists knew this day and cause a mild illness or not at all and more people. "We have always believed that if we knew were the tip of the iceberg," says Ben Embarek. The study gives scientists a better understanding of the extent of the virus really is, he said.
In guidelines published this week, the Qatari government has also indicated how to protect the camels workers. Among other things, they should wash their hands frequently, wear masks own protection temperatures up to 50 ° C make it almost impossible to Qatar and wear protective clothing and gloves, which should be washed every day.
Given the limited data to date about the MERS transmission, scientists praised the Qatari Dutch team for their work. Collaboration is a "showcase of what should happen in the region," said Ben Embarek. Ian Mackay, a virologist at the University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia that MERS follows closely on his blog, called the study "great stuff" in today and said Qatar tweet was "really be commended" to engage in this.
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