Emerging Infectious Diseases (Dec 2014)

MERS Coronavirus Neutralizing Antibodies in Camels, Eastern Africa, 1983–1997

  • Marcel A. Müller,
  • Victor Max Corman,
  • Joerg Jores,
  • Benjamin Meyer,
  • Mario Younan,
  • Anne M. Liljander,
  • Berend-Jan Bosch,
  • Erik Lattwein,
  • Mosaad Hilali,
  • Bakri E. Musa,
  • Set Bornstein,
  • Sung Sup Park

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2012.141026
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 20, no. 12
pp. 2093 – 2095

Abstract

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To analyze the distribution of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)–seropositive dromedary camels in eastern Africa, we tested 189 archived serum samples accumulated during the past 30 years. We identified MERS-CoV neutralizing antibodies in 81.0% of samples from the main camel-exporting countries, Sudan and Somalia, suggesting long-term virus circulation in these animals.

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