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. 2014 Dec;20(12):2093-5.
doi: 10.3201/eid2012.141026.

MERS coronavirus neutralizing antibodies in camels, Eastern Africa, 1983-1997

Marcel A Müller, Victor Max Corman, Joerg Jores, Benjamin Meyer, Mario Younan, Anne Liljander, Berend-Jan Bosch, Erik Lattwein, Mosaad Hilali, Bakri E Musa, Set Bornstein, Christian Drosten

MERS coronavirus neutralizing antibodies in camels, Eastern Africa, 1983-1997

Marcel A Müller et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2014 Dec.

Abstract

To analyze the distribution of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)-seropositive dromedary camels in eastern Africa, we tested 189 archived serum samples accumulated during the past 30 years. We identified MERS-CoV neutralizing antibodies in 81.0% of samples from the main camel-exporting countries, Sudan and Somalia, suggesting long-term virus circulation in these animals.

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Figures

Figure
Figure
Arabian Peninsula and neighboring countries of the Greater Horn of Africa in 2014. The study sites Egypt, Sudan (separated into Sudan and South Sudan), and Somalia are in dark orange and labeled with the year the camels were sampled, the number of samples, and the percentage of samples that were reactive in the MERS-CoV ELISA. Countries with previously reported MERS-CoV seropositive dromedaries are in light orange (overlap shown in stripes).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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