ArticleBMC veterinary research2023
A longitudinal study of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in dromedary camels.
Article in BMC veterinary research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Serological and virological evidence of MERS-CoV infection among dromedary camels in Africa: a systematic review and Meta-analysis.Veterinary research communications · 2026Pooled it
- Local and introduced lineages drive MERS-CoV recombination in Egyptian camels.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- MERS-COV in the Middle East, a one health concept approach.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Review
- Metagenomic Sequencing Reveals the Viral Diversity of Bactrian Camels in China.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Bibliometric analysis of the use of pathological techniques in camel research.Open veterinary journal · 2025Article
- A bibliometric analysis of six decades of camel research in North Africa: Trends, collaboration, and emerging themes.Open veterinary journal · 2024Article
- Cold-adapted live attenuated MERS-CoV vaccine strain remains attenuated in mice after multiple passages in Vero cells at 37 °C.Archives of microbiology · 2024Article
- Inactivated Split MERS-CoV Antigen Prevents Lethal Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infections in Mice.Vaccines · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
27 authors at 6 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMiddle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was identified in humans in 2012. Since then, 2605 cases and 937 associated deaths have been reported globally. Camels are the natural host for MERS-CoV and camel to human transmission has been documented. The relationship between MERS-CoV shedding and presence of neutralizing antibodies in camels is critical to inform surveillance and control, including future deployment of camel vaccines. However, it remains poorly understood. The longitudinal study conducted in a closed camel herd in Egypt between December 2019 and March 2020 helped to characterize the kinetics of MERS-CoV neutralizing antibodies and its relation with viral shedding.
resultsDuring the 100-day longitudinal study, 27 out of 54 camels (50%) consistently tested negative for presence of antibodies against MERS-CoV, 19 (35.2%) tested positive and 8 (14.8%) had both, positive and negative test results. Fourteen events that could be interpreted as serological indication of probable infection (two seroconversions and twelve instances of positive camels more than doubling their optical density ratio (OD ratio) in consecutive samples) were identified. Observed times between the identified events provided strong evidence (p = 0.002) against the null hypothesis that they occurred with constant rate during the study, as opposed to clustering at certain points in time. A generalized additive model showed that optical density ratio (OD ratio) is positively associated with being an adult and varies across individual camels and days, peaking at around days 20 and 90 of the study. Despite serological indication of probable virus circulation and intense repeated sampling, none of the tested nasal swab samples were positive for MERS-CoV RNA, suggesting that, if the identified serological responses are the result of virus circulation, the virus may be present in nasal tissue of infected camels during a very narrow time window.
conclusionsLongitudinal testing of a closed camel herd with past history of MERS-CoV infection is compatible with the virus continuing to circulate in the herd despite lack of contact with other camels. It is likely that episodes of MERS-CoV infection in camels can take place with minimal presence of the virus in their nasal tissues, which has important implications for future surveillance and control of MERS-CoV in camel herds and prevention of its zoonotic transmission.
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