Abstract
The emergence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), nearly a decade ago with worldwide distribution, was believed to be of zoonotic origin from bats with dromedary camels as intermediate hosts. There is a likelihood of other domestic livestock serving as intermediate hosts for this virus. The presence of coronaviruses, closely related to MERS-CoV in Ghanaian bats, presented the opportunity to test the hypothesis of transmissibility of this virus through domestic livestock species. The possible interactions between livestock and bats in 31 household farms were accessed by observation and interviews with farmers. Rectal swabs and serum from cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys, and swine from commercial and household farms were tested for MERS-CoV and a Nycteris sp. bat coronavirus, previously detected in Ghana. A pan-PCR assay to detect clade 2c viruses and recombinant immunofluorescence assay to detect anti-spike IgG antibodies against the target viruses were used. Likely contact between livestock and bats was determined for 13 farms (41.9%) that reported confining their livestock and also observing bats in their homes. Livestock were left unconfined on eight farms (25.8%) that also observed bats roosting in trees close to their homes. No viral RNA or antibodies against the two coronaviruses were detected in any of the livestock species tested. Cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys, and swine are not likely hosts of clade 2c coronaviruses.
Highlights
Coronaviruses are enveloped viruses with positive-strand RNA genomes of size ranging from 26–32 kilobases that are pathogenic to both mammals and birds [1]
Two novel betacoronaviruses that have emerged as human pathogens within the last twenty years, which have caused outbreaks with high case fatality proportions, are the previously unknown coronaviruses called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
MERS-CoV-like coronaviruses have been isolated from bats in the Middle East which indicates that bats may play a role in human infections [9]
Summary
Coronaviruses are enveloped viruses with positive-strand RNA genomes of size ranging from 26–32 kilobases that are pathogenic to both mammals and birds [1]. SARS-CoV belongs to sub-group 2b of the genus Betacoronavirus and is identified as the cause of a severe respiratory disease that emerged and caused an international epidemic in 2002–2003 [1,3]. MERS-CoV is a member of sub-group 2c of the betacoronaviruses and was identified in patients with severe respiratory disease in the Middle East in 2012 [6]. Bats have been identified as the source of most human coronaviruses, some of which are believed to have used livestock intermediate hosts for transmission to humans similar to MERS-CoV which made use of dromedary camels [9,10], SARS-CoV which made use of Himalayan palm civets (Paguma larvata) [4,11], and human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) which made use of camelids [12,13,14]. Human coronavirus NL63, does not have any known intermediate host but viruses closely related to this have been found in bats [15]
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