Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.thenational.ae/uae/healt...s-coronavirus-needs-better-understanding#full
Camel connection to Mers coronavirus needs better understanding
Mitya Underwood
April 28, 2014 Updated: April 28, 2014 18:17:00
...?I think the fact that it?s not spread outside the Middle East in the last two years suggests it?s still tied to the camel population,? said Prof Rambaut, who has collaborated on Mers-CoV research projects. ?Clearly we are getting onward transmission from human to human, but there are many cases for which this seems to have a direct link to camels. Most of the onward transmission has occurred in hospital or health care environments...
...At the moment, Prof Rambaut says, efforts should be focused on learning more about the virus itself at the source.
?We need to really nail down the connection with camels. Do widespread surveillance in camels and look at the genetics of the viruses we find, and see how widespread and diverse they are, and how much mixing is going on, and ask how we could possibly try to prevent exposure.?
It is important, he says, to look at those cases that have appeared in people who have not had any contact with camels and are not in a health care setting.
?When we are seeing a health care worker who has been caring for a human Mers case, that?s a known problem and it?s known how to address it. If you don?t know where the source is, it will continue to linger on. That?s why it has been lingering on for the best part of two years.?
WHO confirmed in March that while the virus might have originated in bats, it was much more likely that camels are the source of infection for humans.
?As such, discovery of the route of transmission between camels and humans remains critical to stopping the initial introduction into human populations,? it said...
Camel connection to Mers coronavirus needs better understanding
Mitya Underwood
April 28, 2014 Updated: April 28, 2014 18:17:00
...?I think the fact that it?s not spread outside the Middle East in the last two years suggests it?s still tied to the camel population,? said Prof Rambaut, who has collaborated on Mers-CoV research projects. ?Clearly we are getting onward transmission from human to human, but there are many cases for which this seems to have a direct link to camels. Most of the onward transmission has occurred in hospital or health care environments...
...At the moment, Prof Rambaut says, efforts should be focused on learning more about the virus itself at the source.
?We need to really nail down the connection with camels. Do widespread surveillance in camels and look at the genetics of the viruses we find, and see how widespread and diverse they are, and how much mixing is going on, and ask how we could possibly try to prevent exposure.?
It is important, he says, to look at those cases that have appeared in people who have not had any contact with camels and are not in a health care setting.
?When we are seeing a health care worker who has been caring for a human Mers case, that?s a known problem and it?s known how to address it. If you don?t know where the source is, it will continue to linger on. That?s why it has been lingering on for the best part of two years.?
WHO confirmed in March that while the virus might have originated in bats, it was much more likely that camels are the source of infection for humans.
?As such, discovery of the route of transmission between camels and humans remains critical to stopping the initial introduction into human populations,? it said...
