Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Aug 7:12:20.
doi: 10.1186/s40248-017-0101-8. eCollection 2017.

The history and epidemiology of Middle East respiratory syndrome corona virus

Aisha M Al-Osail  1 , Marwan J Al-Wazzah  1
Affiliations
Review

The history and epidemiology of Middle East respiratory syndrome corona virus

Aisha M Al-Osail et al. Multidiscip Respir Med. .

Abstract

Corona viruses cause common cold, and infections caused by corona viruses are generally self-resolving. During the last 4 years, corona viruses have become the most important viruses worldwide because of the occurrence of several recent deaths caused by corona viruses in Saudi Arabia. Spread of the infection occurred worldwide; however, most cases of mortality have occurred in the Middle East. Owing to the predominance of outbreaks in the Middle Eastern countries, the virus was renamed a Middle East respiratory syndrome corona virus (MERS-CoV) by the Corona virus Study Group. The Center for Diseases Control and Prevention and World Health Organization maintain a website that is updated frequently with new cases of MERS-CoV infection. In this review, we describe the history and epidemiology of this novel virus. Studies of the genetics and molecular mechanisms of this virus are expected to facilitate the development of vaccines in the future.

Keywords: Bat; Camel; Corona virus; Middle East respiratory syndrome corona virus; Saudi Arabia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The review was approved by Local Ethics Committee at the University of Dammam (Imam Abdulrahman AlFaisal University).

Consent for publication

Not Applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no (Financial and non-Financial) competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Summary of Corona Virus history
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Simple corona virus microbiology
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Zaki A. Novel coronavirus–Saudi Arabia: human isolate. Int Soc Infect Dis. 2012. Pro MED mail. http://www.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20120920.1302733.
    1. Zaki AM, van Boheemen S, Bestebroer TM, Osterhaus AD, Fouchier RA. Isolation of a novel coronavirus from a man with pneumonia in Saudi Arabia. NEngl J Med. 2012;367:1814–1820. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1211721. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mailles A, Blanckaert K, Chaud P, van der Werf S, Lina B, Caro V, et al. First cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infections in France, investigations and implications for the prevention of human-to-human transmission, Euro Surveill. 2013;18:20502. - PubMed
    1. Buchholz U, Müller MA, Nitsche A, Sanewski A, Wevering N, Bauer-Balci T, et al. Contact investigation of a case of human novel coronavirus infection treated in a German hospital, October-November 2012. Euro Surveill. 2013;18:20406. - PubMed
    1. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Update: severe respiratory disease associated with a novel coronavirus. Stockholm: ECDC; 2012.

LinkOut - more resources