Presence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus antibodies in Saudi Arabia: a nationwide, cross-sectional, serological study

[sharon sanders]

[h=1]Presence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus antibodies in Saudi Arabia: a nationwide, cross-sectional, serological study[/h] Marcel A M?ller, PhD
, Benjamin Meyer, MSc
, Victor M Corman, MD
, Malak Al-Masri, BSc
, Abdulhafeez Turkestani, MD
, Daniel Ritz, MSc
, Andrea Sieberg, BSc
, Souhaib Aldabbagh, DVM
, Berend-J Bosch, PhD
, Erik Lattwein, PhD
, Raafat F Alhakeem, MD
, Abdullah M Assiri, MD
, Ali M Albarrak, MD
, Ali M Al-Shangiti, PhD
, Jaffar A Al-Tawfiq, MD
, Paul Wikramaratna, PhD
, Abdullah A Alrabeeah, MD
, Prof Christian Drosten, MD

?
, Prof Ziad A Memish, MD

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?Contributed equally

Published Online: 08 April 2015
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[h=3]Interpretation[/h] Seroprevalence of MERS-CoV antibodies was significantly higher in camel-exposed individuals than in the general population. By simple multiplication, a projected 44 951 (95% CI 26 971?71 922) individuals older than 15 years might be seropositive for MERS-CoV in Saudi Arabia. These individuals might be the source of infection for patients with confirmed MERS who had no previous exposure to camels.



http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(15)70090-3/abstract