Camels linked to spread of Sars-like coronavirus

The Sars-like virus that has infected 94 people who have lived in or had links to the Middle East, and killed almost half of them – including a 38-year-old man who died in the UK reportedly after exposure to a relative who visited Mecca, Saudi Arabia – could have come from camels, research suggests.

The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, MERS-CoV, has similarities to a strain in pipistrelle bats. But bats have been thought to be an unlikely source of human infection.

Researchers led by Chantal Reusken, of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, the Netherlands, tested blood samples from cattle, sheep and goats and finally dromedary camels.

Tests on 50 retired racing camels in Oman proved 100 per cent positive.

Every camel had antibodies in its blood that suggested it had been in contact with MERS-CoV.

The animals came from various places in Oman, suggesting the virus or one like it was widespread in camels across the country, said the researchers in their paper in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Canary Islands tests
The team also tested 105 camels in the Canary Islands and found 15 of those were infected.

“The camels have contact with wild rodents, pigeons, and other doves, and possibly also bats.”

The scientists said the infection could have been imported in camels from Africa, where there are bats carrying a virus related to MERS-CoV. They called for further studies.

– (Guardian service)