New evidence further implicates camels in the MERS outbreak.
The researchers extracted a "complete, live, infectious sample of MERS coronavirus" from two Saudi Arabian camels. They found the sample was identical to those found in humans, suggesting the virus can spread from camel to human, a Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health news release reported.
The researchers took nasal samples from the camels; they then cultured these samples and completely sequenced the genome.
"The finding of infectious virus strengthens the argument that dromedary camels are reservoirs for MERS-CoV," first author Thomas Briese, PhD, associate director of the Center for Infection and Immunity and associate professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman Schoo, said in the news release. "The narrow range of MERS viruses in humans and a very broad range in camels may explain in part the why human disease is uncommon: because only a few genotypes are capable of cross species transmission."
"Given these new data, we are now investigating potential routes for human infection through exposure to camel milk or meat products," co-author Abdulaziz N. Alagaili, PhD, director of the Mammals Research Chair at King Saud University, said in the news release. "This report builds on work published earlier this year when our team found that three-quarters of camels in Saudi Arabia carry MERS virus."
The first cases of the virus occurred in Saudi Arabia in 2012; since there about 300 have been infected and 100 have died.
Cases have been reported in "Jordan, Qatar, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom," the news release reported. Recently the virus has made its way to Malaysia and the Philippines.
"Although there is no evidence that MERS-CoV is becoming more transmissible, the recent increase in reported cases is a cause for concern," senior author W. Ian Lipkin, MD, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity and the John Snow Professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School, said in the news release. "It is essential that investigators commit to data and sample sharing so that this potential threat to global health is addressed by the entire biomedical research community."
