Abstract
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has caused an ongoing outbreak of severe acute respiratory tract infection in humans in the Arabian Peninsula since 2012. Dromedary camels have been implicated as possible viral reservoirs. We used serologic assays to analyze 651 dromedary camel serum samples from the United Arab Emirates; 151 of 651 samples were obtained in 2003, well before onset of the current epidemic, and 500 serum samples were obtained in 2013. Recombinant spike protein-specific immunofluorescence and virus neutralization tests enabled clear discrimination between MERS-CoV and bovine CoV infections. Most (632/651, 97.1%) camels had antibodies against MERS-CoV. This result included all 151 serum samples obtained in 2003. Most (389/651, 59.8%) serum samples had MERS-CoV-neutralizing antibody titers >1,280. Dromedary camels from the United Arab Emirates were infected at high rates with MERS-CoV or a closely related, probably conspecific, virus long before the first human MERS cases.
Highlights
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERSCoV) has caused an ongoing outbreak of severe acute respiratory tract infection in humans in the Arabian Peninsula since 2012
To characterize reactivity of camel serum samples with MERS-CoV in different assay formats, we chose 11 camel serum samples with weak and strong reactivity predetermined by using a simple immunofluorescence assay (IFA)
Antibodies were detected in serum samples obtained in 2013 and in serum samples obtained >10 years earlier, which indicated the longstanding presence of MERS-CoV or a closely related virus in dromedaries in that region
Summary
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERSCoV) has caused an ongoing outbreak of severe acute respiratory tract infection in humans in the Arabian Peninsula since 2012. Most (632/651, 97.1%) dromedaries had antibodies against MERS-CoV This result included all 151 serum samples obtained in 2003. Dromedaries from the United Arab Emirates were infected at high rates with MERS-CoV or a closely related, probably conspecific, virus long before the first human MERS cases. It was speculated that zoonotic introductions of MERS-CoV from an unknown reservoir might occur at high rates, in addition to obvious human-tohuman transmission. Insectivorous bats of the family Vespertilionidae were recently shown to carry viruses that are probably conspecific with MERS-CoV [9]. In a manner similar to observations regarding severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV (SARSCoV), an intermediate reservoir host might exist from which human infections are acquired.
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