Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) origin and animal reservoir

Abstract

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a novel coronavirus discovered in 2012 and is responsible for acute respiratory syndrome in humans. Though not confirmed yet, multiple surveillance and phylogenetic studies suggest a bat origin. The disease is heavily endemic in dromedary camel populations of East Africa and the Middle East. It is unclear as to when the virus was introduced to dromedary camels, but data from studies that investigated stored dromedary camel sera and geographical distribution of involved dromedary camel populations suggested that the virus was present in dromedary camels several decades ago. Though bats and alpacas can serve as potential reservoirs for MERS-CoV, dromedary camels seem to be the only animal host responsible for the spill over human infections.

A rapid scoping review of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in animal hosts

“…Search terms and strategies were tailored to the requirements and structure of each database, and consisted of “MERS‐CoV” OR “Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus.” The search was conducted again on 24 August 2017. At this time, bibliographies of review articles were searched for any articles missed by the initial electronic search (Arabi et al, ; Hemida et al, ; Mackay & Arden, ; Mohd, Al‐Tawfiq, & Memish, ). Conference proceedings, and government and university websites in the Middle East were hand searched for citations on 11 September 2017.…”

“…In the 6 years since the discovery of MERS‐CoV, several reviews have been published that have described key advances in understanding the virus in animal populations, and identified research gaps, such as the zoonotic modes of transmission (Arabi et al, ; Mackay & Arden, ; Mohd, et al, ). However, no formal mapping of the literature has yet been attempted.…”

Taking forward a ‘One Health’ approach for turning the tide against the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus and other zoonotic pathogens with epidemic potential

“…The emergence of MERS-CoV in 2012 (15) was the second time (after SARS-CoV) (16) that a highly pathogenic coronavirus of humans emerged in the 21st century (17). A strong link between human cases of MERS-CoV and dromedary camels has been established through several studies (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26). MERS-CoV is endemic in camel populations of East Africa and the Middle East (21,25,26) and presents a constant (36) remain unanswered.…”

“…A strong link between human cases of MERS-CoV and dromedary camels has been established through several studies (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26). MERS-CoV is endemic in camel populations of East Africa and the Middle East (21,25,26) and presents a constant (36) remain unanswered. These have again been raised recently highlighted by calls from both Saudi Arabian healthcare staff and scientists (37,38) and by yet another WHO MERS expert group which defines a 'Roadmap for Research and Product Development against MERS-CoV' (39).…”

Managing Crowds with Wireless and Mobile Technologies

“…Of these viruses and diseases are EBOLA [4], HIV Aids [5], Swine Influenza H1N1 and H1N2 [6], various strands of flu [7], Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) [8], and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) [9]. They have occurred mainly in Africa and the Middle East, but also in some other parts of the world.…”