Abstract
ABSTRACT The ongoing Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreaks pose a worldwide public health threat. Blocking MERS-CoV zoonotic transmission from dromedary camels, the animal reservoir, could potentially reduce the number of primary human cases. Here we report MERS-CoV transmission from experimentally infected llamas to naïve animals. Directly inoculated llamas shed virus for at least 6 days and could infect all in-contact naïve animals 4–5 days after exposure. With the aim to block virus transmission, we examined the efficacy of a recombinant spike S1-protein vaccine. In contrast to naïve animals, in-contact vaccinated llamas did not shed infectious virus upon exposure to directly inoculated llamas, consistent with the induction of strong virus neutralizing antibody responses. Our data provide further evidence that vaccination of the reservoir host may impede MERS-CoV zoonotic transmission to humans.
Highlights
The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first identified in September 2012 [1]
Experimental MERS-CoV transmission from infected llamas to naïve in-contact llamas has been demonstrated for the first time
We confirmed that 3 infected llamas were able to transmit MERS-CoV to at least 5 naïve animals; further studies are needed to determine the basic reproduction ratio of this virus transmission in camelids
Summary
The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first identified in September 2012 [1]. We tested llama sera from the vaccine efficacy study for antibodies able to block MERS-CoV binding to its receptor (DPP4) using a competitive ELISA.
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