There is no longer any doubt that camels transmit the MERS virus to humans, reports the New England Journal of Medicine. This has been shown by research in Saudi Arabia.
MERS virus belonging to the so-called coronavirus, comes from the Middle East, hence its name – Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or Middle East respiratory distress syndrome. Researchers suspected that it came from animals from the beginning, there was just no certainty to what.
The latest research leaves no doubt that this microbe has jumped onto humans from camels. Saudi Arabia researchers investigated a germ that attacked a 2013-year-old owner of nine camels in 44. The man died in November last year, but the MERS virus was isolated from his body earlier. It turned out to be descended from a strain of coronaviruses discovered in one of his camels.
Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University in Nashville says this ultimately confirms that MERS is descended from camels. It was found that four camels belonging to a Saudi were infected in October 2013. A week later in early November, he himself was hospitalized with symptoms of pneumonia and respiratory disorders. He died two weeks later and his camels recovered.
It is still uncertain whether MERS is also spread by other animal species. It is known, however, that it underwent further mutation and acquired the ability to move between people. It has been reported that medical personnel caring for infected patients and the closest relatives of some patients were infected with it.
Worryingly, the number of victims of the MERS epidemic is much higher than officially reported until recently. According to data from the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) at the end of May 2014, more than 150 people worldwide died from MERS and more than 600 were infected with it. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health, however, announced on June 3 this year that the microbe killed almost 300 people in this country alone.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) argues that there is no reason yet to raise a global alarm. Mostly the Middle East is still under threat. (PAP)