Presence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus antibodies in Saudi Arabia: a nationwide, cross-sectional, serological study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Scientific evidence suggests that dromedary camels are the intermediary host for the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). However, the actual number of infections in people who have had contact with camels is unknown and most index patients cannot recall any such contact. We aimed to do a nationwide serosurvey in Saudi Arabia to establish the prevalence of MERS-CoV antibodies, both in the general population and in populations of individuals who have maximum exposure to camels.

Methods

In the cross-sectional serosurvey, we tested human serum samples obtained from healthy individuals older than 15 years who attended primary health-care centres or participated in a national burden-of-disease study in all 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia. Additionally,

SUBMITTER: Muller MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7185864 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature