Meyer Benjamin, Müller Marcel A, Corman Victor M, Reusken Chantal B E M, Ritz Daniel, Godeke Gert-Jan, Lattwein Erik, Kallies Stephan, Siemens Artem, van Beek Janko, Drexler Jan F, Muth Doreen, Bosch Berend-Jan, Wernery Ulrich, Koopmans Marion P G, Wernery Renate, Drosten Christian
Emerg Infect Dis. 2014 Apr;20(4):552-9. doi: 10.3201/eid2004.131746.
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has caused an ongoing outbreak of severe acute respiratory tract infection in humans in the Arabian Peninsula since 2012. Dromedary camels have been implicated as possible viral reservoirs. We used serologic assays to analyze 651 dromedary camel serum samples from the United Arab Emirates; 151 of 651 samples were obtained in 2003, well before onset of the current epidemic, and 500 serum samples were obtained in 2013. Recombinant spike protein-specific immunofluorescence and virus neutralization tests enabled clear discrimination between MERS-CoV and bovine CoV infections. Most (632/651, 97.1%) camels had antibodies against MERS-CoV. This result included all 151 serum samples obtained in 2003. Most (389/651, 59.8%) serum samples had MERS-CoV-neutralizing antibody titers >1,280. Dromedary camels from the United Arab Emirates were infected at high rates with MERS-CoV or a closely related, probably conspecific, virus long before the first human MERS cases.
自2012年以来，中东呼吸综合征冠状病毒（MERS-CoV）在阿拉伯半岛引发了持续的人类严重急性呼吸道感染疫情。单峰骆驼被认为可能是该病毒的储存宿主。我们使用血清学检测方法分析了来自阿拉伯联合酋长国的651份单峰骆驼血清样本；其中151份样本于2003年采集，远在当前疫情暴发之前，另外500份血清样本于2013年采集。重组刺突蛋白特异性免疫荧光和病毒中和试验能够清晰区分MERS-CoV感染和牛冠状病毒感染。大多数（632/651，97.1%）骆驼具有抗MERS-CoV抗体。这一结果包括2003年采集的所有151份血清样本。大多数（389/651，59.8%）血清样本的MERS-CoV中和抗体滴度>1280。早在首例人类MERS病例出现之前，阿拉伯联合酋长国的单峰骆驼就已被MERS-CoV或一种密切相关的、可能是同种的病毒高频率感染。
