title: Inoculation of Goats, Sheep, and Horses with MERS-CoV Does Not Result in Productive Viral Shedding.
abstract: The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first recognized in 2012 and can cause severe disease in infected humans. Dromedary camels are the reservoir for the virus, although, other than nasal discharge, these animals do not display any overt clinical disease. Data from in vitro experiments suggest that other livestock such as sheep, goats, and horses might also contribute to viral transmission, although field data has not identified any seropositive animals. In order to understand if these animals could be infected, we challenged young goats and horses and adult sheep with MERS-CoV by intranasal inoculation. Minimal or no virus shedding was detected in all of the animals. During the four weeks following inoculation, neutralizing antibodies were detected in the young goats, but not in sheep or horses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA. danielle.adney@colostate.edu.
authors.forename: Danielle R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Adney
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA. vienna.brown@colostate.edu.
authors.forename: Vienna R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. stephanie.porter@colostate.edu.
authors.forename: Stephanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD 4343, Australia. h.bielefeldtohmann1@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Helle
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bielefeldt-Ohmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. airn.hartwig@colostate.edu.
authors.forename: Airn E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Hartwig
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA. Richard.Bowen@colostate.edu.|Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. Richard.Bowen@colostate.edu.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bowen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D006041:Goats; D006736:Horses; D058507:Host Specificity; D065207:Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / Q000502:physiology*; D012756:Sheep; D017201:Virus Shedding
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral
keywords: MERS; goat; horse; reservoir host; sheep