Co-circulation of three camel coronavirus species and recombination of MERS-CoVs in Saudi Arabia

Outbreaks of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) raise questions about the prevalence and evolution of the MERS coronavirus (CoV) in its animal reservoir. Our surveillance in Saudi Arabia in 2014 and 2015 showed that viruses of the MERS-CoV species and a human CoV 229E–related lineage co-circula...

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Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2016-01, Vol.351 (6268), p.81-84
Main Authors: Sabir, Jamal S. M., Lam, Tommy T.-Y., Ahmed, Mohamed M. M., Li, Lifeng, Shen, Yongyi, Abo-Aba, Salah E. M., Qureshi, Muhammad I., Abu-Zeid, Mohamed, Zhang, Yu, Khiyami, Mohammad A., Alharbi, Njud S., Hajrah, Nahid H., Sabir, Meshaal J., Mutwakil, Mohammed H. Z., Kabli, Saleh A., Alsulaimany, Faten A. S., Obaid, Abdullah Y., Zhou, Boping, Smith, David K., Holmes, Edward C., Zhu, Huachen, Guan, Yi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Arabia
Camels
Camelus - virology
Coinfection - epidemiology
Coinfection - veterinary
Coinfection - virology
Coronavirus
Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology
Coronavirus Infections - veterinary
Coronavirus Infections - virology
Disease Reservoirs - veterinary
Disease Reservoirs - virology
Disorders
Epidemiological Monitoring
Humans
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus - classification
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus - genetics
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus - physiology
Molecular Sequence Data
Outbreaks
Phylogeny
Poxvirus
Recombinant
Recombination, Genetic
Reservoirs
Respiratory diseases
Saudi Arabia - epidemiology
Vaccines
Viruses
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Summary:Outbreaks of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) raise questions about the prevalence and evolution of the MERS coronavirus (CoV) in its animal reservoir. Our surveillance in Saudi Arabia in 2014 and 2015 showed that viruses of the MERS-CoV species and a human CoV 229E–related lineage co-circulated at high prevalence, with frequent co-infections in the upper respiratory tract of dromedary camels. Including a betacoronavirus 1 species, we found that dromedary camels share three CoV species with humans. Several MERS-CoV lineages were present in camels, including a recombinant lineage that has been dominant since December 2014 and that subsequently led to the human outbreaks in 2015. Camels therefore serve as an important reservoir for the maintenance and diversification of the MERS-CoVs and are the source of human infections with this virus.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aac8608