MERS coronavirus EMC/2012 explained

MERS coronavirus EMC/2012 (MERS coronavirus Erasmus Medical Center/2012) is a strain of coronavirus isolated from the sputum of the first person to become infected with what was later named Middle East respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus (MERS-CoV), a virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Natural reservoir

An investigation of bat roosts in Bisha, the hometown of the index patient, by the Saudi Ministry of Health discovered an Egyptian tomb bat in a large roost close to the index patient's home. Phylogenetic analysis showed a 100% match between the virus isolated from the bat and MERS coronavirus EMC/2012 isolated from the index patient.^[5]

Virology

MERS coronavirus EMC/2012 is the sixth coronavirus known to infect humans and the first human virus within betacoronavirus lineage C. It is a new genotype which is related to bat coronaviruses, specifically an Egyptian tomb bat, and is not the same beta-CoV as the SARS-CoV, but is distantly related.^{[3] [6]}

See also

• Novel virus

Notes and References

1. Zaki . AM . van Boheemen . S . Bestebroer . TM . Osterhaus . AD . Fouchier . RA . 2012 . Isolation of a novel coronavirus from a man with pneumonia in Saudi Arabia . N Engl J Med . 367 . 19. 1814–20 . 10.1056/nejmoa1211721 . 23075143. free .
2. Holmes . KV . Dominguez . SR . Jan 2013 . The new age of virus discovery: genomic analysis of a novel human betacoronavirus isolated from a fatal case of pneumonia . mBio. 4 . 1. e00548–12 . 3546555 . 23300251 . 10.1128/mBio.00548-12 .
3. Van Boheemen . S . de Graaf . M . Lauber . C . Bestebroer . TM . Raj . VS . Zaki . AM . Osterhaus . AD . Haagmans . BL . Gorbalenya . AE . Snijder . EJ . Fouchier . RA . Nov 2012 . Genomic characterization of a newly discovered coronavirus associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome in humans . mBio . 3 . 6 . 6 . 10.1128/mBio.00473-12 . 23170002. 3509437 .
4. Is the discovery of the novel human betacoronavirus 2c EMC/2012 (HCoV-EMC) the beginning of another SARS-like pandemic?. 25 March 2013 . 23072791 . 10.1016/j.jinf.2012.10.002 . 65 . 6 . J Infect . 477–89 . Chan . JF . Li . KS . To . KK . Cheng . VC . Chen . H . Yuen . KY. 7112628 . free .
5. 10.3201/eid1911.131172. 24206838. 3837665. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus in Bats, Saudi Arabia. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 19. 11. 1819–23. 2013. Memish. Ziad A.. Mishra. Nischay. Olival. Kevin J.. Fagbo. Shamsudeen F.. Kapoor. Vishal. Epstein. Jonathan H.. Alhakeem. Rafat. Durosinloun. Abdulkareem. Al Asmari. Mushabab. Islam. Ariful. Kapoor. Amit. Briese. Thomas. Daszak. Peter. Al Rabeeah. Abdullah A.. Lipkin. W. Ian.
6. Chan . JF . Li . KS . To . KK . Cheng . VC . Chen . H . Yuen . KY . Dec 2012 . Is the discovery of the novel human betacoronavirus 2c EMC/2012 (HCoV-EMC) the beginning of another SARS-like pandemic? . J Infect . 65 . 6. 477–89 . 10.1016/j.jinf.2012.10.002 . 23072791. 7112628 . free .