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Lack of serological evidence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection in virus exposed camel abattoir workers in Nigeria, 2016
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View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsMalik Peirismalik hku.hk
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Citation style for this article: . Lack of serological evidence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection in virus exposed camel abattoir workers in Nigeria, 2016. Euro Surveill. 2018;23(32):pii=1800175. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2018.23.32.1800175 Received: 08 Apr 2018; Accepted: 28 Jun 2018
Abstract
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a zoonotic threat of global public health concern and dromedary camels are the source of zoonotic infection. Although MERS-CoV is enzootic in dromedaries in Africa as well as the Middle East, zoonotic disease has not been reported in Africa. Methods: In an abattoir in Kano, Nigeria, we tested nasal swabs from camels and investigated 261 humans with repeated occupational exposure to camels, many of whom also reported drinking fresh camel milk (n = 138) or urine (n = 94) or using camel urine for medicinal purposes (n = 96). Results: Weekly MERS-CoV RNA detection in January–February 2016 ranged from 0–8.4% of camels sampled. None of the abattoir workers with exposure to camels had evidence of neutralising antibody to MERS-CoV. Conclusion: There is a need for more studies to investigate whether or not zoonotic transmission of MERS-CoV does take place in Africa.
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