Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in dromedary camels, Oman, 2013

N Nowotny; J Kolodziejek

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.16.20781

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Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in dromedary camels, Oman, 2013
N Nowotny^1,2 , J Kolodziejek¹
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Affiliations: ¹ Viral Zoonoses, Emerging and Vector-Borne Infections Group, Institute of Virology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria ² Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

Correspondence:
N Nowotny
Norbert.Nowotny vetmeduni.ac.at
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Citation style for this article: Nowotny N, Kolodziejek J. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in dromedary camels, Oman, 2013. Euro Surveill. 2014;19(16):pii=20781. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.16.20781 Received: 17 Apr 2014

Abstract

A countrywide survey in Oman revealed Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) nucleic acid in five of 76 dromedary camels. Camel-derived MERS-CoV sequences (3,754 nucleotides assembled from partial sequences of the open reading frame (ORF)1a, spike, and ORF4b genes) from Oman and Qatar were slightly different from each other, but closely related to human MERS-CoV sequences from the same geographical areas, suggesting local zoonotic transmission. High viral loads in nasal and conjunctival swabs suggest possible transmission by the respiratory route.