Investigation of anti-middle East respiratory syndrome antibodies in blood donors and slaughterhouse workers in Jeddah and Makkah, Saudi Arabia, fall 2012.
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a novel, potentially zoonotic human coronavirus (HCoV). We investigated MERS-CoV antibodies using a staged approach involving an immunofluorescence assay (IFA), a differential recombinant IFA, and a plaque-reduction serum neutralization assay. In 130 blood donors sampled during 2012 in Jeddah and 226 slaughterhouse workers sampled in October 2012 in Jeddah and Makkah, Saudi Arabia, 8 reactive sera were seen in IFA but were resolved to be specific for established HCoVs by discriminative testing. There is no evidence that MERS-CoV circulated widely in the study region in fall 2012, matching an apparent absence of exported disease during the 2012 Hajj.
Enviromental Science Department, Faculty of Metrology, Environmental Science and Arid Land Agriculture.
Asad S
AS
Aburizaiza
Frank M
FM
Mattes
Esam I
EI
Azhar
Ahmed M
AM
Hassan
Ziad A
ZA
Memish
Doreen
D
Muth
Benjamin
B
Meyer
Erik
E
Lattwein
Marcel A
MA
Müller
Christian
C
Drosten
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D057134:Antibodies, Neutralizing / Q000097:blood; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001782:Blood Donors; D017934:Coronavirus / Q000276:immunology*; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D055815:Young Adult
D057134:Antibodies, Neutralizing; D000914:Antibodies, Viral
MERS-Coronavirus; population immunity; serology