MERS Coronaviruses in Dromedary Camels, Egypt

MERS Coronaviruses in Dromedary Camels, Egypt

Daniel K.W. Chu, Leo L.M. Poon, Mokhtar M. Gomaa, Mahmoud M. Shehata, Ranawaka A.P.M. Perera, Dina Abu Zeid, Amira S. El Rifay, Lewis Y. Siu, Yi Guan, Richard J. Webby, Mohamed A. Ali, Malik Peiris, Ghazi Kayali

We identified the near-full-genome sequence (29,908 nt, >99%) of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) from a nasal swab specimen from a dromedary camel in Egypt. We found that viruses genetically very similar to human MERS-CoV are infecting dromedaries beyond the Arabian Peninsula, where human MERS-CoV infections have not yet been detected.

2014

zoonosis, Pneumonia, Genomics, phylogeny, Dromedary, Camel

DOI: 10.3201/eid2006.140299

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Infectious and parasitic diseases, Medicine

EN