Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) RNA and neutralising antibodies in milk collected according to local customs from dromedary camels, Qatar, April 2014

C B Reusken; E A Farag; M Jonges; G J Godeke; A M El-Sayed; S D Pas; V S Raj; K A Mohran; H A Moussa; H Ghobashy; F Alhajri; A K Ibrahim; B J Bosch; S K Pasha; H E Al-Romaihi; M Al-Thani; S A Al-Marri; M M AlHajri; B L Haagmans; M P Koopmans

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.23.20829

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Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) RNA and neutralising antibodies in milk collected according to local customs from dromedary camels, Qatar, April 2014
C B Reusken^1,2 , E A Farag^2,3 , M Jonges^2,4 , G J Godeke⁴ , A M El-Sayed³ , S D Pas¹ , V S Raj¹ , K A Mohran⁵ , H A Moussa⁶ , H Ghobashy⁵ , F Alhajri⁵ , A K Ibrahim^6,7 , B J Bosch⁸ , S K Pasha⁶ , H E Al-Romaihi³ , M Al-Thani³ , S A Al-Marri³ , M M AlHajri³ , B L Haagmans¹ , M P Koopmans^1,4
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Affiliations: ¹ Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands ² These authors contributed equally to the manuscript. ³ Supreme Council of Health, Doha, Qatar ⁴ Netherlands Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands ⁵ Ministry of Environment, Doha, Qatar ⁶ Leawaina camel hospital, Dukhan, Qatar ⁷ Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt ⁸ Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Correspondence:
M AlHajri
malhajri1 sch.gov.qa
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Citation style for this article: Reusken C B, Farag E A, Jonges M, Godeke G J, El-Sayed A M, Pas S D, Raj V S, Mohran K A, Moussa H A, Ghobashy H, Alhajri F, Ibrahim A K, Bosch B J, Pasha S K, Al-Romaihi H E, Al-Thani M, Al-Marri S A, AlHajri M M, Haagmans B L, Koopmans M P. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) RNA and neutralising antibodies in milk collected according to local customs from dromedary camels, Qatar, April 2014. Euro Surveill. 2014;19(23):pii=20829. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.23.20829 Received: 06 Jun 2014

Abstract

Antibodies to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) were detected in serum and milk collected according to local customs from 33 camels in Qatar, April 2014. At one location, evidence for active virus shedding in nasal secretions and/or faeces was observed for 7/12 camels; viral RNA was detected in milk of five of these seven camels. The presence of MERS-CoV RNA in milk of camels actively shedding the virus warrants measures to prevent putative food-borne transmission of MERS-CoV.