Department of Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Ahasa, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafrelsheikh University Kafrelsheikh, Egypt.
J Med Virol. 2021 Sep;93(9):5328-5332. doi: 10.1002/jmv.27023. Epub 2021 May 3.
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is one of the recently identified zoonotic coronaviruses. The one-hump camels are believed to play important roles in the evolution and transmission of the virus. The animal-to-animal, as well as the animal-to-human transmission in the context of MERS-CoV infection, were reported. The camels shed the virus in some of their secretions, especially the nasal tract. However, there are many aspects of the transmission cycle of the virus from animals to humans that are still not fully understood. Rodents played important roles in the transmission of many pathogens, including viruses and bacteria. They have been implicated in the evolution of many human coronaviruses, especially HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-HKU1. However, the role of rodents in the transmission of MERS-CoV still requires more exploration. To achieve this goal, we identified MERS-CoV that naturally infected dromedary camel by molecular surveillance. We captured 15 of the common rodents (rats, mice, and jerboa) sharing the habitat with these animals. We collected both oral and rectal swabs from these animals and then tested them by the commercial MERS-CoV real-time-PCR kits using two targets. Despite the detection of the viral shedding in the nasal swabs of some of the dromedary camels, none of the rodents tested positive for the virus during the tenure of this study. We concluded that these species of rodents did not harbor the virus and are most unlikely to contribute to the transmission of the MERS-CoV. However, further large-scale studies are required to confirm the potential roles of rodents in the context of the MERS-CoV transmission cycle, if any.
中东呼吸综合征冠状病毒（MERS-CoV）是最近发现的人畜共患病冠状病毒之一。据信，单峰驼在病毒的进化和传播中发挥了重要作用。已经报道了动物之间以及 MERS-CoV 感染背景下动物与人之间的传播。骆驼在其一些分泌物中排出病毒，特别是鼻腔。然而，病毒从动物传播到人类的传播循环的许多方面仍未完全了解。啮齿动物在许多病原体（包括病毒和细菌）的传播中发挥了重要作用。它们与许多人类冠状病毒的进化有关，特别是 HCoV-OC43 和 HCoV-HKU1。然而，啮齿动物在 MERS-CoV 传播中的作用仍需要更多的探索。为了实现这一目标，我们通过分子监测鉴定了自然感染单峰驼的 MERS-CoV。我们捕获了与这些动物共享栖息地的 15 种常见啮齿动物（老鼠、老鼠和跳鼠）。我们从这些动物身上采集了口腔和直肠拭子，然后使用两种靶标通过商业 MERS-CoV 实时 PCR 试剂盒对其进行了测试。尽管在一些单峰驼的鼻腔拭子中检测到了病毒脱落，但在本研究期间，没有一种啮齿动物检测到病毒呈阳性。我们得出结论，这些啮齿动物种类不携带该病毒，极不可能有助于 MERS-CoV 的传播。然而，如果有的话，需要进一步的大规模研究来确认啮齿动物在 MERS-CoV 传播循环中的潜在作用。
