Vergara-Alert J, Raj V S, Muñoz M, Abad F X, Cordón I, Haagmans B L, Bensaid A, Segalés J
IRTA, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA, IRTA-UAB), Bellaterra, Spain.
Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Transbound Emerg Dis. 2017 Oct;64(5):1342-1345. doi: 10.1111/tbed.12668. Epub 2017 Jun 26.
Dromedary camels are the main reservoir of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), but other livestock species (i.e., alpacas, llamas, and pigs) are also susceptible to infection with MERS-CoV. Animal-to-animal transmission in alpacas was reported, but evidence for transmission in other species has not been proved. This study explored pig-to-pig MERS-CoV transmission experimentally. Virus was present in nasal swabs of infected animals, and limited amounts of viral RNA, but no infectious virus were detected in the direct contact pigs. No virus was detected in the indirect contact group. Furthermore, direct and indirect contact pigs did not develop specific antibodies against MERS-CoV. Therefore, the role of pigs as reservoir is probably negligible, although it deserves further confirmation.
单峰骆驼是中东呼吸综合征冠状病毒（MERS-CoV）的主要宿主，但其他家畜物种（即羊驼、美洲驼和猪）也易感染MERS-CoV。曾报道羊驼之间存在动物对动物的传播，但其他物种之间传播的证据尚未得到证实。本研究通过实验探索了猪对猪的MERS-CoV传播情况。在感染动物的鼻拭子中存在病毒，在直接接触的猪中检测到少量病毒RNA，但未检测到传染性病毒。在间接接触组中未检测到病毒。此外，直接和间接接触的猪均未产生针对MERS-CoV的特异性抗体。因此，猪作为宿主的作用可能微不足道，尽管这值得进一步证实。
