title: Sparse evidence of MERS-CoV infection among animal workers living in Southern Saudi Arabia during 2012.
abstract: Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging viral pathogen that primarily causes respiratory illness. We conducted a seroprevalence study of banked human serum samples collected in 2012 from Southern Saudi Arabia. Sera from 300 animal workers (17% with daily camel exposure) and 50 non-animal-exposed controls were examined for serological evidence of MERS-CoV infection by a pseudoparticle MERS-CoV spike protein neutralization assay. None of the sera reproducibly neutralized the MERS-CoV-pseudotyped lentiviral vector. These data suggest that serological evidence of zoonotic transmission of MERS-CoV was not common among animal workers in Southern Saudi Arabia during July 2012.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, KSA.
authors.forename: Ziad A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Memish
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alsahly
authors.forename: Malak Al
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Masri
authors.forename: Gary L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Heil
authors.forename: Benjamin D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Malik
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peiris
authors.forename: Salah Uddin
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Gregory C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Gray
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002162:Camelus; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D065207:Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / Q000276:immunology*; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral
keywords: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; MERS-CoV; antibody; pseudoparticle virus neutralization assays