Coronavirus cases Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV), first reported in 2012, has affected nine countries to date, finds the World Health Organization. Among the 94 cases identified, 46 patients succumbed to the disease, which is easily transmitted from person to person. As Saudi Arabia, the country most affected by the virus, prepares to welcome hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in October, concern is growing on the side of the health authorities.
The good news is that the animal origin of the Coronavirus has been found. An international team of 24 researchers published a study on the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases in which they explain having discovered anti MERS-CoV antibodies in the blood of Middle Eastern camels. Before reaching these conclusions, research had been carried out, in vain, by the health authorities of Saudi Arabia on approximately 1,100 bats, known to be a vector of coronavirus. The authors of the study thus decided to take 349 blood samples from different animal breeds: dromedaries, cows, sheep and goats, from different countries (Oman, the Netherlands, Spain and Chile).
Now that the origin of the virus has been discovered, researchers and authorities will have to work on the best way to limit contact with these animals. This task seems difficult to achieve in a country where dromedaries are used for racing, their meat and their milk. Among other things, the animal is a healthy carrier which does not show any symptoms of the disease and therefore cannot be treated preventively.
