Mohd Hamzah A, Al-Tawfiq Jaffar A, Memish Ziad A
Saudi Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Virol J. 2016 Jun 3;13:87. doi: 10.1186/s12985-016-0544-0.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a novel coronavirus discovered in 2012 and is responsible for acute respiratory syndrome in humans. Though not confirmed yet, multiple surveillance and phylogenetic studies suggest a bat origin. The disease is heavily endemic in dromedary camel populations of East Africa and the Middle East. It is unclear as to when the virus was introduced to dromedary camels, but data from studies that investigated stored dromedary camel sera and geographical distribution of involved dromedary camel populations suggested that the virus was present in dromedary camels several decades ago. Though bats and alpacas can serve as potential reservoirs for MERS-CoV, dromedary camels seem to be the only animal host responsible for the spill over human infections.
中东呼吸综合征冠状病毒（MERS-CoV）是2012年发现的一种新型冠状病毒，可导致人类急性呼吸综合征。尽管尚未得到证实，但多项监测和系统发育研究表明其起源于蝙蝠。该疾病在东非和中东的单峰骆驼种群中高度流行。目前尚不清楚该病毒何时传入单峰骆驼，但对储存的单峰骆驼血清以及相关单峰骆驼种群地理分布的研究数据表明，该病毒在几十年前就已存在于单峰骆驼中。尽管蝙蝠和羊驼可能是MERS-CoV的潜在宿主，但单峰骆驼似乎是导致人类感染的唯一动物宿主。
