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MERS-CoV in sheep, goats, and cattle, United Arab Emirates, 2019: Virological and serological investigations reveal an accidental spillover from dromedaries
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  • Pia Weidinger,
  • Jolanta Kolodziejek,
  • Jeremy Camp,
  • tom loney,
  • Dafalla Ahmed,
  • Sathishkumar Ramaswamy ,
  • Ahmad Abou Tayoun,
  • Victor Max Corman,
  • Norbert Nowotny
Pia Weidinger
Veterinarmedizinische Universitat Wien

Corresponding Author:pia.weidinger@vetmeduni.ac.at

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Jolanta Kolodziejek
Veterinarmedizinische Universitat Wien
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Jeremy Camp
Veterinarmedizinische Universitat Wien
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tom loney
Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences College of Medicine
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Dafalla Ahmed
Al Ain City Municipality
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Sathishkumar Ramaswamy
Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital
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Ahmad Abou Tayoun
Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences College of Medicine
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Victor Max Corman
Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin
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Norbert Nowotny
Veterinarmedizinische Universitat Wien
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Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated again the global threat posed by emerging zoonotic coronaviruses. During the past two decades alone, humans have experienced the emergence of several coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV in 2003, MERS-CoV in 2012, and SARS-CoV-2 in 2019. To date, MERS-CoV has been detected in 27 countries, with a case fatality ratio of approximately 34.5 %. Similar to other coronaviruses, MERS-CoV presumably originated from bats; however, the main reservoir and primary source of human infections are dromedary camels. Other species within the Camelidae family, such as Bactrian camels, alpacas, and llamas, seem to be susceptible to the infection as well, although to a lesser extent. In contrast, susceptibility studies on sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, chickens, and horses obtained divergent results. In the present study, we tested nasal swabs and/or sera from 55 sheep, 45 goats, and 52 cattle, collected at the largest livestock market in the United Arab Emirates, where dromedaries are also traded, for the presence of MERS-CoV nucleic acid by RT-qPCR, and for specific antibodies by immunofluorescence assay (IFA). All sera were negative for MERS-CoV-reactive antibodies, but the nasal swab of one sheep (1.8 %) was positive for MERS-CoV nucleic acid. Next generation sequencing (NGS) of the complete N gene of the sheep-derived MERS-CoV revealed >99 % nucleotide identity to MERS-CoV sequences of five dromedaries in nearby pens and to three reference sequences. The NGS sequence of the sheep-derived MERS-CoV was confirmed by conventional RT-PCR of a part of the N gene and subsequent Sanger sequencing. All MERS-CoV sequences clustered within clade B, lineage 5. In conclusion, our study shows that non-camelid livestock, such as sheep, goats, and cattle do not play a major role in MERS-CoV epidemiology. The one sheep that tested positive most likely reflects an accidental viral spillover event from infected dromedaries in nearby pens.
16 Jul 2021Submitted to Transboundary and Emerging Diseases
19 Jul 2021Submission Checks Completed
19 Jul 2021Assigned to Editor
21 Jul 2021Reviewer(s) Assigned
30 Jul 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
16 Aug 2021Editorial Decision: Revise Major
27 Aug 20211st Revision Received
27 Aug 2021Submission Checks Completed
27 Aug 2021Assigned to Editor
29 Aug 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
29 Aug 2021Editorial Decision: Accept
Sep 2022Published in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases volume 69 issue 5 on pages 3066-3072. 10.1111/tbed.14306