Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus neutralising serum antibodies in dromedary camels: a comparative serological study

By C. Reusken, B. Haagmans, M. Müller, C. Gutiérrez, G. Godeke, B. Meyer, D. Muth, V. S. Raj, Laura Smits-de Vries, V. Corman and 14 more. Lancet. Infectious Diseases (Print), 2013

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Summary Background A new betacoronavirus—Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)—has been identified in patients with severe acute respiratory infection. Although related viruses infect bats, molecular clock analyses have been unable to identify direct ancestors of MERS-CoV. Anecdotal exposure histories suggest that patients had been in contact with dromedary camels or goats. We investigated possible animal reservoirs of MERS-CoV by assessing specific serum antibodies in livestock. Methods We took sera from animals in the Middle East (Oman) and from elsewhere (Spain, Netherlands, Chile). Cattle (n=80), sheep (n=40), goats (n=40), dromedary camels (n=155), and various other camelid species (n=34) were tested for specific serum IgG by protein microarray using the receptor-binding S1 subunits of spike proteins of MERS-CoV, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and human coronavirus OC43. Results were confirmed by virus neutralisation tests for MERS-CoV and bovine coronavirus. Findings 50 of 50 (100%) sera from Omani camels and 15 of 105 (14%) from Spanish camels had protein-specific antibodies against MERS-CoV spike. Sera from European sheep, goats, cattle, and other camelids had no such antibodies. MERS-CoV neutralising antibody titres varied between 1/320 and 1/2560 for the Omani camel sera and between 1/20 and 1/320 for the Spanish camel sera. There was no evidence for cross-neutralisation by bovine coronavirus antibodies. Interpretation MERS-CoV or a related virus has infected camel populations. Both titres and seroprevalences in sera from different locations in Oman suggest widespread infection. Funding European Union, European Centre For Disease Prevention and Control, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

Subfields: Animal Science and Zoology, Food Science, Infectious Diseases

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Citations in the corpus

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in dromedary camels: an outbreak investigation (2013, background): “13 Both MERS-CoV spike protein binding antibodies and virus neutralising antibodies were reported in dromedary camels from diff erent regions, including Oman and Egypt, but no virus shedding could be detected and, therefore, the signifi cance of these observations remained an issue of debate. 13, 14”
Further Evidence for Bats as the Evolutionary Source of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (2017, background): “Concurrently, epidemiologists identified an association between MERS infections in patients and their contact with dromedary camels (3, 4).”
COVID-19: The first documented coronavirus pandemic in history (2020, neutral): “[18] Reusken CB, Haagmans BL, Muller MA, Gutierrez C, Godeke GJ, Meyer B, et al.”
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus: Another Zoonotic Betacoronavirus Causing SARS-Like Disease (2015, background): “The first in vivo evidence to support the presence of an intermediate animal reservoir of MERS-CoV emerged when high titers of serum neutralizing IgG against the MERS-CoV S1 RBD were detected in dromedary camels (121).”
Zoonotic origins of human coronaviruses (2020, background): “On the other hand, studies in Middle East have shown that dromedary camels are seropositive for MERS-CoV-specific neutralizing antibodies [54] , same as camels of Middle East origin in multiple African countries [55] .”
Identification of sialic acid-binding function for the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus spike glycoprotein (2017, neutral): “Dromedary camels, the natural reservoir of MERS-CoV (7 – 9), are the main source for recurrent human infection.”
Hosts and Sources of Endemic Human Coronaviruses (2018, background): “The recently described camel CoV HKU23 is a BCoV variant previously known to exist in camels (Corman et al., 2016; Reusken et al., 2013; Sabir et al., 2016;Woo et al., 2016; Wunschmann et al., 2002).”
Epidemiology, Genetic Recombination, and Pathogenesis of Coronaviruses (2016, background): “In the case of MERS-CoV, studies in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Jordan have shown that dromedary camels are seropositive for neutralizing antibodies against MERS-CoV [54], as well as camels of Middle East origin in Africa, including Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tunisia, ”
Screening of an FDA-Approved Compound Library Identifies Four Small-Molecule Inhibitors of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Replication in Cell Culture (2014, background): “This sharp increase in reported infections has enhanced 72 concerns that we might be confronted with a repeat of the 2003 severe acute respiratory 73 syndrome (SARS) episode, concerns aggravated by the fact that the animal reservoir for MERS74 CoV remains to be identified with certainty (6-9).”
From SARS to MERS: crystallographic studies on coronaviral proteases enable antiviral drug design (2014, background): “In the case of MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV), bats were again suspected to be the reservoir as a few coronaviruses with high sequence similarity to MERS-CoV were discovered in African and European bats [21, 22] , but in recent months the picture has changed somewhat and dromedary camels are now the ma”