MERS Disease Among Camels and Humans

MERS is a dangerous respiratory disease that appeared in Saudi Arabia 17 months ago that stands for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. It turns out that it's actually been circulating in Arabian camels for almost two decades, though. It's sickened 180 people and killed 77 of them so far. The interesting thing is that scientists haven't figured out where it came from or even how people catch it. It is confirmed as a camel virus, specifically from Saudi Arabian dromedary camels, the one-humped variety. They get it when they're young, and it usually doesn't make them ill. When humans get it, the symptoms are those of pneumonia, except almost always life-threatening. The most important thing scientists are trying to solve is how humans who haven't had contact with camels get the virus. In Saudi Arabia specifically, two-thirds of the people with virus had never had contact with camels. It's known that humans can get it from other humans, but there is no obvious source of transmission. One possibility is that people pick the virus up from fomites, which are contaminated surfaces. Saudi Arabia's deputy health minister, Dr. Ziad Memish, thinks that the transmission is a bit more complicated than through fomites, though. Scientists have strong evidence that MERS is not very infectious, which the possibility of transmission through fomites does not support. There have also been many other theories and discoveries, but there have been none that fully make sense. Arabian health officials are launching a project to make further discoveries. Memish as well as Ian Lipkin of Columbia University, the senior author of an article about the virus in mBIO, will continue to study the cases of MERS.

NOS Themes:

• Science is based on evidence.
• Role of skepticism.
• Role of motivation and curiosity.

Link: Deadly MERS Virus Circulates Among Arabian Camels