Camels Spread The Dangerous Virus

Camels Spread The Dangerous Virus.
Scientists chance they have the first final proof that a deadly respiratory virus in the Middle East infects camels in addition to humans. The verdict may help researchers find ways to control the spread of the virus. Using gene sequencing, the study team found that three camels from a site where two people contracted Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS) were also infected with the virus. The place was a negligible livestock barn in Qatar.

In October, 2013, the 61-year-old barn owner was diagnosed with MERS, followed by a 23-year-old gazabo who worked at the barn. Within a week of the barn owner's diagnosis, samples were imperturbable from 14 dromedary camels at the barn. The samples were sent to laboratories in the Netherlands for genetic division and antibody testing. The genetic analyses confirmed the vicinity of MERS in three camels.

Genetically, the viruses in the camels were very similar - but not identical - to those that infected the barn proprietor and worker. All 14 camels had antibodies to MERS, which suggests that the virus had been circulating surrounded by them for some time, enabling most of them to develop immunity against infection, according to the study published Dec 17, 2013 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. While the findings cater evidence that camels can be infected with MERS, it's not possible to determine whether the camels infected the two men or sinfulness versa, said the researchers from the Netherlands and Qatar.

It's also possible that the men and the camels were infected by another as-yet unfamiliar source such as cattle, sheep, goats or wildlife, the researchers added. Further questioning into the infections is under way. "An understanding of the role of animals in the transmission of (MERS) is urgently needed to report control efforts," Neil Ferguson and Maria Van Kerkhove, of Imperial College London in England, wrote in an accompanying article in the journal.

So "This virus can apply from person to person, sometimes causing substantial outbreaks, but whether the virus is capable of self-sustained (ie, epidemic) human-to-human transmittal is unknown". If self-sustained transmission in people is not yet under way, the researchers said, intensified control and risk-reduction measures targeting affected animal species and their handlers might annihilate the virus from the human population tongkat. "Conversely, if (animal) exposure causes only a small fraction of soul infections, then even intensive veterinary control efforts would have little effect on cases in people," they concluded.