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J Med Virol
. 2021 Apr 14.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.27023. Online ahead of print.
Exploring the potential roles of some rodents in the transmission of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus
Maged Gomaa Hemida 1 2 , Mohammed Alhammadi 1 , Faisal Almathen 3 , Abdelmohsen Alnaeem 4
Affiliations
- PMID: 33851740
- DOI: 10.1002/jmv.27023
Abstract
MER-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 understand. 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 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 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 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 This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Keywords: MERS-CoV; RNA; dromedary camels; jerboa; mice; nasal swabs; rat; real-time PCR; rectal swabs; rodents; transmission.