Lack of detection of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) nucleic acids in some Hyalomma dromedarii infesting some Camelus dromedary naturally infected with MERS-CoV

BMC Research Notes

Abdelmohsen Alnaeem¹  Mohammed Alhammadi²  Maged Gomaa Hemida³  Faisal Almathen⁴ 

[1] Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Ahasa, Saudi Arabia;Department of Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Hufuf, Al-Ahasa, Saudi Arabia;Department of Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Hufuf, Al-Ahasa, Saudi Arabia;Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, Egypt;Department of Public Health and Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Ahasa, Saudi Arabia;

关键词: MERS-CoV;    Dromedary camels;    Hyalomma dromedarii;    Nasal swabs;    RNA;    Real-time PCR;    Transmission;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13104-021-05496-w

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

ObjectiveThe Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is one of the zoonotic coronaviruses [Hemida Peer J 7:e7556, 2019; Hemida et al. One Health 8:100102, 2019]. The dromedary camels remained the only known animal reservoir for this virus. Several aspects of the transmission cycle of the virus between animals, including arthropod-borne infection, is still largely unknown. The main objective of the current work was to study the possibility of MERS-CoV transmission through some arthropod vectors, particularly the hard ticks. To achieve this objective, we identified a positive MERS-CoV dromedary camel herd using the commercial available real-time PCR kits. We collected some arthropods, particularly the ticks from these positive animals as well as from the animal habitats. We tested these arthropods for the presence of MERS-CoV viral RNAs.ResultsOur results showing the absence of any detectable MERS-CoV-RNAs in these arthropods despite these animals were actively shedding the virus in their nasal secretions. Our results are confirming for the first the failure of detection of the MERS-CoV in ticks infesting dromedary camels. Failure of the detection of MERS-CoV in ticks infesting positive naturally infected MERS-CoV camels is strongly suggesting that ticks do not play roles in the transmission of the virus among the animals and close contact humans.

【 授权许可】

CC BY