Quite a few posts on here have been about the MERS virus circulating in the Middle East. This novel coronavirus, termed MERS-CoV, results in a pneumonia-like illness that can lead to organ failure and death. As of the beginning of August, there have been 94 confirmed cases and 46 deaths, although the exact numbers are unknown as it is possible that there were many other, more mild cases. So far, although human to human transmission has occurred, it appears to be limited. Because of this there is an intense search to identify an animal reservoir of this virus. The journal The Lancet-Infectious Diseases published an early report last week that identified Omani camels as a potential reservoir of virus. 100% of the Omani camels tested had antibodies directed against a protein of the virus called the Spike protein. The presence of the antibodies indicates that the camels had come into contact with the virus (antibodies = immune response). This is a really cool finding; some patients had actually reported contact with camels before becoming ill. I wonder if there are other animal hosts too....
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 03:07:24 +0000
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