The outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has caused 209 deaths and 699 laboratory-confirmed cases in the Arabian Peninsula as of June 11, 2014. Preparedness efforts are hampered by considerable uncertainty about the nature and intensity of human-to-human transmission, with previous reproduction number estimates ranging from 0.4 to 1.5. Here we synthesize epidemiol...

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a zoonotic virus from camels causing significant mortality and morbidity in humans in the Arabian Peninsula. The epidemiology of the virus remains poorly understood, and while case-based and seroepidemiological studies have been employed extensively throughout the epidemic, viral sequence data have not been utilised to their full potent...

Traditional approaches to antimicrobial drug development are poorly suited to combatting the emergence of novel pathogens. Additionally, the lack of small animal models for these infections hinders the in vivo testing of potential therapeutics. Here we demonstrate the use of the VelocImmune technology (a mouse that expresses human antibody-variable heavy chains and κ light chains) alongside the...

Recently, a man aged 44 years from South Korea who flew to Hong Kong on May 26, subsequently traveled to Huizhou, Guangdong Province, had drawn the worldwide attention. First laboratory‐confirmed case of middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS) finally landed in China, 3 years after the first identification of MERS coronavirus (MERS‐CoV) in Saudi Arabia, 2012.[1] In reality actually, MERS did no...

Dromedary camels are a putative source for human infections with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus. We showed that camels sampled in different regions in Kenya during 1992-2013 have antibodies against this virus. High densities of camel populations correlated with increased seropositivity and might be a factor in predicting long-term virus maintenance.

Since Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) first emerged, the California Department of Public Health has coordinated efforts to identify possible cases in travelers to California, USA, from affected areas. During 2013-2014, the department investigated 54 travelers for MERS-CoV; none tested positive, but 32 (62%) of 52 travelers with suspected MERS-CoV had other respiratory vi...

Human rights situation in the Middle East (ME) is a central concern in contemporary political as well as academic discourses. There is a considerable amount of literature on the subject, both academic and journalistic, in the Western world. A large part of that literature blames the ME in different ways for its ‘terrible’ conception and treatment of human rights norms. They typically, do not he...

The Middle East was a funnel of human expansion out of Africa, a staging area for the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution, and the home to some of the earliest world empires. Post LGM expansions into the region and subsequent population movements created a striking genetic mosaic with distinct sex-based genetic differentiation. While prior studies have examined the mtDNA and Y-chromosome contrast...

To analyze the distribution of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)-seropositive dromedary camels in eastern Africa, we tested 189 archived serum samples accumulated during the past 30 years. We identified MERS-CoV neutralizing antibodies in 81.0% of samples from the main camel-exporting countries, Sudan and Somalia, suggesting long-term virus circulation in these animals.

BACKGROUND Approximately, 80% of the many cases of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) confirmed worldwide were diagnosed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The risk of the disease spreading internationally is especially worrying given the role of KSA as the home of the most important Islamic pilgrimage sites. This means the need to assess Arab pilgrims' awareness of ...