Mers: Coronavirus May Have Come From Camels
The Mers virus, which has also been called the coronavirus, has killed 46 people out of a total of 94 it has infected.
It has so far mainly affected the Middle East, but one patient died in Birmingham after contracting the virus from a relative who had come from the region.
Now researchers say they believe the Arabian camel may be a possible host of the deadly virus, officially called the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (Mers-CoV).
The exact origins of the virus have baffled scientists who have been working hard in a bid to halt its spread.
With the disease shown to have been spread by human-to-human contact, there are fears that it could spread rapidly once the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia gets underway in October.
It is one of the deadliest viruses yet come across and scientists are worried that if it mutates into a form that moves easily between people, it could wipe out millions.
Now an international team says blood tests have found antibodies against the disease in camels from Oman, meaning they had at some point been infected with Mers, or a closely-related virus.
The findings suggest that Arabian or dromedary camels "may be one reservoir of the virus that is causing Mers in humans", said a statement that accompanied the study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.
Saudi Arabia has been forced to restrict visas for the 2013 Hajj so far. Millions of Muslims typically flock to the holy sites of Mecca and Medina every year.
Scientists had thought that, like its cousin virus Sars, which killed hundreds of people in Asia 10 years ago, Mers may originate in bats.
They now believe, however, that it is unlikely the nocturnal creatures are to blame, but that an intermediary "reservoir" animal is involved.
There is anecdotal evidence of patients having been in contact with camels or goats, which has now been further confirmed by the study.
In carrying out their study, the team took blood from 50 camels from across Oman and another 105 in the Canary Islands, as well as llamas, alpacas, bactrian camels, cattle, goats and sheep from the Netherlands, Chile and Spain.
They found Mers-like antibodies in all of the Omani camels and at lower levels in 15 of those from the Canary Islands.
The paper's senior author Marion Koopmans, of the Netherlands' National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, said: "What it means is that these camels some time ago have come across a virus that is very similar to Mers-CoV."
But she said the study had not been able to tell when the animals had been exposed, or whether it was the exact same virus.
"For that, studies are needed that collect the right samples from camels while they are infected," said Ms Koopmans. Other animals from the Middle East, like goats, must also be tested.
There are an estimated 13 million dromedary camels in the world today - all but a few are domesticated and most are in Africa and the Middle East.
Mers has claimed lives in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia, as well as among people known to have had contact with infected people from the Middle East in France, Germany, Italy, and the UK.
