Dromedaries transmit dangerous coronaviruses

Dromedaries could transmit dangerous coronavirus

08/10/2013

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the new coranavirus has already claimed 46 lives. 97 cases of illness were confirmed by laboratory tests. The virus is a threat to the whole world, warned WHO Director-General Margaret Chan at the 66th World Health Assembly in Geneva in June. Dutch researchers now reported antibodies „Mers-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus) in the blood of dromedaries, according to which the camelias related animals could be carriers of coronavirus, which has so far occurred mainly in the Arabian Peninsula.

Dromedaries had contact with coronaviruses?
Like the researchers led by Chantal Reusken of the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, the Netherlands, in the British journal „The Lancet Infectious Diseases report antibodies to the new coronavirus „Mers "in the blood of dromedaries, which suggests that the animals may be in contact with „Mers“ or a close relative. The new coronavirus is very similar to the Sars virus and causes flu-like symptoms as well as life-threatening kidney failure and severe pneumonia. According to WHO, 46 people are currently enrolled „Mers“ died. Most deaths were registered in Saudi Arabia.

For their study, Reusken and her team analyzed 349 blood samples from different animals such as sheep, goats, cattle, and dromedaries. „50 out of 50 samples (100 percent) from Oman dromedaries and 15 out of 105 samples (14 percent) from Spanish dromedaries had protein-specific antibodies to Mers-CoV“, the researchers report in the journal. In addition, a smaller amount of antibodies was found in the blood of the Spanish animals. From this the researchers conclude that one „Mers“-similar virus must occur in dromedaries.

Dromedaries could transmit the coronavirus to humans?
The journal also said that research must now focus on finding the virus that causes the antibodies in the animals' blood. This can then be compared with the pathogens in humans.

Surprised, the researchers were not aware that especially dromedaries from Oman had antibodies against the new coronavirus in the blood. Oman is a neighboring country of Saudi Arabia, where most deaths were registered. The animals are used on the Arabian Peninsula, for example, for racing. The meat is also eaten and the milk drunk. Therefore, according to researchers, it is possible that "the virus is transmitted from animals to humans". It is known that some "Mers patients had contact with goats or dromedaries".

Case of a 73-year-old „Mers“-Patients provide information about the distribution of viral load in the body
An international research team led by the University of Bonn is investigating this „Mers“-Virus on the example of a deceased in March this year in Munich man currently detailed. In June, the team headed by Professor Christian Drosten, Director of the Institute of Virology at the University Hospital Bonn, reported in „The Lancet“, that for the first time it was possible to draw conclusions about the distribution of „Mers-CoV“-Viral load on the various organs. This was the largest in the lower respiratory tract.

The 73-year-old man from the United Arab Emirates initially suffered from flu-like symptoms. Two days later, he was taken to a hospital in Abu Dhabi where pneumonia was diagnosed. The patient then received antibiotics and was artificially ventilated. Even after twelve days, no improvement in the condition of the man, so that he was finally transferred to a clinic in Munich. Even there, the condition continues to worsen until the 73-year-old died 18 days after onset of the disease in a blood poisoning (sepsis) and multiple organ failure. (Ag)

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