title: Risk factors for MERS coronavirus infection in dromedary camels in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Morocco, 2015.
abstract: Understanding Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) transmission in dromedary camels is important, as they consitute a source of zoonotic infection to humans. To identify risk factors for MERS-CoV infection in camels bred in diverse conditions in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Morocco, blood samples and nasal swabs were sampled in February-March 2015. A relatively high MERS-CoV RNA rate was detected in Ethiopia (up to 15.7%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 8.2-28.0), followed by Burkina Faso (up to 12.2%; 95% CI: 7-20.4) and Morocco (up to 7.6%; 95% CI: 1.9-26.1). The RNA detection rate was higher in camels bred for milk or meat than in camels for transport (p = 0.01) as well as in younger camels (p = 0.06). High seropositivity rates (up to 100%; 95% CI: 100-100 and 99.4%; 95% CI: 95.4-99.9) were found in Morocco and Ethiopia, followed by Burkina Faso (up to 84.6%; 95% CI: 77.2-89.9). Seropositivity rates were higher in large/medium herds (≥51 camels) than small herds (p = 0.061), in camels raised for meat or milk than for transport (p = 0.01), and in nomadic or sedentary herds than in herds with a mix of these lifestyles (p < 0.005).
authors.affiliation: Cirad UPR AGIRs, Montpellier, France.|UMR CNRS, IRD, UM, 5290 MIVEGEC, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Eve
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Miguel
authors.affiliation: Cirad UPR AGIRs, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chevalier
authors.affiliation: National Veterinary Institute, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Gelagay
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ayelet
authors.affiliation: Institut Agronomique Vétérinaire Hassan 2, Rabat, Morocco.
authors.forename: Med Nadir
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Ben Bencheikh
authors.affiliation: INERA-CNRST, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Hiver
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Boussini
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Adminstrative Region, China.
authors.forename: Daniel Kw
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Institut Agronomique Vétérinaire Hassan 2, Rabat, Morocco.
authors.forename: Ikhlass
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: El Berbri
authors.affiliation: Institut Agronomique Vétérinaire Hassan 2, Rabat, Morocco.
authors.forename: Ouaffa
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fassi-Fihri
authors.affiliation: Cirad UMR SELMET, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Faye
authors.affiliation: Haramaya university, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Getnet
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fekadu
authors.affiliation: Cirad UPR AGIRs, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Grosbois
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Adminstrative Region, China.
authors.forename: Bryan Cy
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Adminstrative Region, China.
authors.forename: Ranawaka Apm
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Adminstrative Region, China.
authors.forename: T Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: So
authors.affiliation: INERA-CNRST, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Amadou
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Traore
authors.affiliation: UMR CNRS, IRD, UM, 5290 MIVEGEC, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Roger
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Adminstrative Region, China.
authors.forename: Malik
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peiris
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002050:Burkina Faso; D002162:Camelus / Q000821:virology*; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000821:virology*; D005002:Ethiopia; D006801:Humans; D065207:Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009018:Morocco; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Density; West - East gradient; herd size; milking activities; nomadic; sedentary