Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29202063›Full record

ArticleGlobal health research and policy2016

The global spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome: an analysis fusing traditional epidemiological tracing and molecular phylodynamics.

Jae Min, Eleonora Cella, Massimo Ciccozzi, Antonello Pelosi, Marco Salemi, Mattia Prosperi

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Global health research and policy, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

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  6. Phylodynamic applications in 21Global health research and policy · 2017
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Jae MinDepartment of Epidemiology, College of Public Health & Health Professions and College of Medicine, University of Florida, 2004 Mowry Rd, Gainesville, FL 32610-0231 USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4112-9583
Eleonora CellaDepartment of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-mediated Diseases, National Institute of Health, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Massimo CiccozziDepartment of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-mediated Diseases, National Institute of Health, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Antonello PelosiDepartment of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-mediated Diseases, National Institute of Health, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Marco SalemiDepartment of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, 2055 Mowry Rd, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA.
Mattia ProsperiDepartment of Epidemiology, College of Public Health & Health Professions and College of Medicine, University of Florida, 2004 Mowry Rd, Gainesville, FL 32610-0231 USA.
University of Florida · USIstituto Superiore di Sanità · ITUniversità Campus Bio-Medico · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSince its discovery in 2012, over 1700 confirmed cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) have been documented worldwide and more than a third of those cases have died. While the greatest number of cases has occurred in Saudi Arabia, the recent export of MERS-coronavirus (MERS-CoV) to Republic of Korea showed that a pandemic is a possibility that cannot be ignored. Due to the deficit of knowledge in transmission methodology, targeted treatment and possible vaccines, understanding this virus should be a priority. Our aim was to combine epidemiological data from literature with genetic information from viruses sequenced around the world to present a phylodynamic picture of MERS spread molecular level to global scale.

methodsWe performed a qualitative meta-analysis of all laboratory confirmed cases worldwide to date based on literature, with emphasis on international transmission and healthcare associated infections. In parallel, we used publicly available MERS-CoV genomes from GenBank to create a phylogeographic tree, detailing geospatial timeline of viral evolution.

resultsSeveral healthcare associated outbreaks starting with the retrospectively identified hospital outbreak in Jordan to the most recent outbreak in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia have occurred. MERS has also crossed many oceans, entering multiple nations in eight waves between 2012 and 2015. In this paper, the spatiotemporal history of MERS cases, as documented epidemiologically, was examined by Bayesian phylogenetic analysis. Distribution of sequences into geographic clusters and interleaving of MERS-CoV sequences from camels among those isolated from humans indicated that multiple zoonotic introductions occurred in endemic nations. We also report a summary of basic reproduction numbers for MERS-CoV in humans and camels.

conclusionTogether, these analyses can help us identify factors associated with viral evolution and spread as well as establish efficacy of infection control measures. The results are especially pertinent to countries without current MERS-CoV endemic, since their unfamiliarity makes them particularly susceptible to uncontrollable spread of a virus that may be imported by travelers.

Indexed as

CoronavirusEpidemiologyMiddle East Respiratory SyndromePhylodynamics

Identifiers

PMID29202063
PMCPMC5693564
OpenAlexW2528911651

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.