Abstract
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is an emerging infectious disease, caused by Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and is considered to be a zoonosis. However, the natural reservoirs of MERS-CoV remain obscure, with bats and camels as the most suspected sources. In this article, we review the evidence supporting a bat/camel origin of human MERS-CoV infection and current knowledge on the modes of camel-to-human transmission of MERS-CoV.
Highlights
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are enveloped, positive-sense RNA viruses with large genomes (29–32 kb) packaged in particles with corona-like morphology (Lai et al, 2007)
We review the evidence supporting a bat/camel origin of human Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV infection and current knowledge on the modes of camel-to-human transmission of MERS-CoV
HCoV229E and NL63 belong to the genus Alphacoronavirus, while the other four Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) belong to the genus Betacoronavirus, with HCoV-OC43 and HKU1 in lineage A, SARSCoV in lineage B and MERS-CoV in lineage C (Zaki et al, 2012)
Summary
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are enveloped, positive-sense RNA viruses with large genomes (29–32 kb) packaged in particles with corona-like morphology (Lai et al, 2007). We review the evidence supporting a bat/camel origin of human MERS-CoV infection and current knowledge on the modes of camel-to-human transmission of MERS-CoV.
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