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More MERS in Saudi Arabia as antibody therapies get funding
Filed Under:
MERS-CoV
Stephanie Soucheray | News Reporter | CIDRAP News
| Aug 23, 2016
After 5 days with no new illnesses, the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a new case of MERS-CoV today, continuing a stretch of sporadic detections.
In other developments, a new study shed light on the likelihood transmission from livestock aside from camels, and two experimental treatments for the disease received new research funding.
Household contact cited in latest case
A 43-year-old man from Huraymala was diagnosed as having MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) after presenting with symptoms. He is in stable condition. The MOH described him as a household contact of someone classified as a primary source of infection. On Aug 8, the MOH reported a 36-year-old man from Huraymala was infected with MERS-CoV. The MOH had said that man had primary exposure to the virus.
The new case brings the total in Saudi Arabia since the outbreak began in 2012 to 1,447, including 608 fatalities.
Household and healthcare contact with MERS-CoV patients is a known risk factor for the disease, as is contact with camels. While direct and indirect exposure to the animals has caused MERS-CoV transmission (including drinking came milk) researchers don?t yet understand the mechanism at play.
Experiments show little shedding in other livestock
A new study in Viruses cast doubt on whether other livestock are involved in the animal-to-human transmission of MERS-CoV. Researchers described the experimental infection of young sheep, goats, and horses with MERS-CoV. In vitro experiments show these animals may host the virus, but no seropositive animals have been identified.
Researchers exposed two goats, three sheep, and four horses to MERS-CoV, and collected nasal secretions to assess the animals for viral shedding. Only kid goats developed antibodies, and there were minimal or no viral shedding seen in the rest of the animals.
"While in vitro studies suggested that these animals could be naturally or experimental infected, the lack of support from field data coupled with the experimental data presented here suggest that these animals are unlikely to be infected and are not important in viral transmission of MERS-CoV," the authors wrote.
Thus researchers concluded that camels?and no other livestock?remain the biggest animal-to-human transmission risk for MERS-CoV.
Antibody therapy receives funding
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced yesterday that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded the company $8.9 million to package and study two antibody therapies that could treat MERS-CoV.
There are no approved medicines or vaccines for MERS-CoV, and the respiratory infection causes high death rates. Regneron?s VelociGene and VelocImmune technologies identified two MERS-CoV antibodies the company said could be the basis for treatment therapies.
The project is part of Regeneron?s rapid response platform, which looks at developing medicines for emerging infectious disease. In addition to MERS-CoV, the company is working on treatments for Ebola and Zika virus.
See also:
Aug 23 Saudi Arabia MOH report
Aug 19 Viruses article
Aug 22 Regeneron announcement
More MERS in Saudi Arabia as antibody therapies get funding
Filed Under:
MERS-CoV
Stephanie Soucheray | News Reporter | CIDRAP News
| Aug 23, 2016
After 5 days with no new illnesses, the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a new case of MERS-CoV today, continuing a stretch of sporadic detections.
In other developments, a new study shed light on the likelihood transmission from livestock aside from camels, and two experimental treatments for the disease received new research funding.
Household contact cited in latest case
A 43-year-old man from Huraymala was diagnosed as having MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) after presenting with symptoms. He is in stable condition. The MOH described him as a household contact of someone classified as a primary source of infection. On Aug 8, the MOH reported a 36-year-old man from Huraymala was infected with MERS-CoV. The MOH had said that man had primary exposure to the virus.
The new case brings the total in Saudi Arabia since the outbreak began in 2012 to 1,447, including 608 fatalities.
Household and healthcare contact with MERS-CoV patients is a known risk factor for the disease, as is contact with camels. While direct and indirect exposure to the animals has caused MERS-CoV transmission (including drinking came milk) researchers don?t yet understand the mechanism at play.
Experiments show little shedding in other livestock
A new study in Viruses cast doubt on whether other livestock are involved in the animal-to-human transmission of MERS-CoV. Researchers described the experimental infection of young sheep, goats, and horses with MERS-CoV. In vitro experiments show these animals may host the virus, but no seropositive animals have been identified.
Researchers exposed two goats, three sheep, and four horses to MERS-CoV, and collected nasal secretions to assess the animals for viral shedding. Only kid goats developed antibodies, and there were minimal or no viral shedding seen in the rest of the animals.
"While in vitro studies suggested that these animals could be naturally or experimental infected, the lack of support from field data coupled with the experimental data presented here suggest that these animals are unlikely to be infected and are not important in viral transmission of MERS-CoV," the authors wrote.
Thus researchers concluded that camels?and no other livestock?remain the biggest animal-to-human transmission risk for MERS-CoV.
Antibody therapy receives funding
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced yesterday that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded the company $8.9 million to package and study two antibody therapies that could treat MERS-CoV.
There are no approved medicines or vaccines for MERS-CoV, and the respiratory infection causes high death rates. Regneron?s VelociGene and VelocImmune technologies identified two MERS-CoV antibodies the company said could be the basis for treatment therapies.
The project is part of Regeneron?s rapid response platform, which looks at developing medicines for emerging infectious disease. In addition to MERS-CoV, the company is working on treatments for Ebola and Zika virus.
See also:
Aug 23 Saudi Arabia MOH report
Aug 19 Viruses article
Aug 22 Regeneron announcement