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. 2018 Aug;23(32):1800175.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2018.23.32.1800175.

Lack of serological evidence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection in virus exposed camel abattoir workers in Nigeria, 2016

Ray Ty So  1   2 , Ranawaka Apm Perera  1   2 , Jamiu O Oladipo  1   2   3 , Daniel Kw Chu  1   2 , Sulyman A Kuranga  3 , Kin-Ho Chan  1 , Eric Hy Lau  1 , Samuel Ms Cheng  1 , Leo Lm Poon  1 , Richard J Webby  4 , Malik Peiris  1
Affiliations

Lack of serological evidence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection in virus exposed camel abattoir workers in Nigeria, 2016

Ray Ty So et al. Euro Surveill. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

BackgroundMiddle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a zoonotic threat of global public health concern and dromedary camels are the source of zoonotic infection. Although MERS-CoV is enzootic in dromedaries in Africa as well as the Middle East, zoonotic disease has not been reported in Africa. Methods: In an abattoir in Kano, Nigeria, we tested nasal swabs from camels and investigated 261 humans with repeated occupational exposure to camels, many of whom also reported drinking fresh camel milk (n = 138) or urine (n = 94) or using camel urine for medicinal purposes (n = 96). Results: Weekly MERS-CoV RNA detection in January-February 2016 ranged from 0-8.4% of camels sampled. None of the abattoir workers with exposure to camels had evidence of neutralising antibody to MERS-CoV. Conclusion: There is a need for more studies to investigate whether or not zoonotic transmission of MERS-CoV does take place in Africa.

Keywords: MERS; abattoir; camel; coronavirus; human; occupational exposure; serology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

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