Dromedary camels in northern Mali have high seropositivity to MERS-CoV

Darryl Falzarano; Badian Kamissoko; Emmie de Wit; Ousmane Maïga; Jacqueline Cronin; Kassim Samaké; Abdalah Traoré; Shauna Milne-Price; Vincent J Munster; Nafomon Sogoba; Mamadou Niang; David Safronetz; Heinz Feldmann

doi:10.1016/j.onehlt.2017.03.003

Dromedary camels in northern Mali have high seropositivity to MERS-CoV

One Health. 2017 Mar 10:3:41-43. doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2017.03.003. eCollection 2017 Jun.

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Virology, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 903 South 4th Street, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA.
² Laboratoire Central Vétérinaire, Route de Koulikoro, BP 2295 Bamako, Mali.
³ International Center for Excellence in Research, Malaria Research and Training Center, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali.

Abstract

A high percentage (up to 90%) of dromedary camels in the Middle East as well as eastern and central Africa have antibodies to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Here we report comparably high positivity of MERS-CoV antibodies in dromedary camels from northern Mali. This extends the range of MERS-CoV further west in Africa than reported to date and cautions that MERS-CoV should be considered in cases of severe respiratory disease in the region.

Keywords: Dromedary camels; Emerging; MERS-CoV; Mali; Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus; Neutralizing antibodies; Serology; Zoonotic infection.