A new research suggests eye camels as the possible carriers of the mysterious, deadly virus MERS spreading in the Middle East.
There is already about 94 cases recorded since September last year, mostly in Saudi Arabia, leaving 46 dead. Since then, scientists have been working to find out how people got infected since the cases don’t show that the virus was transmitted between humans.
A European research team released their initial finding pointing to dromedary, or one-humped, camels, as the possible carriers of the virus. The camels were not infected but found to be possessing antibodies which means they were infected some time ago of the same virus or something alike.
The scientists gathered blood samples from 50 Oman camels and had it compared to 15 Spanish camels. They also took blood samples from camels inhabiting the Netherlands and Chile for further comparison. Aside from blood testing done in camels, they also looked at other animals such as cows, goats, and sheep in which they found no traces of any antibodies or virus of similar kind.
Marion Koopmans, lead author of the study and chief of virology at the Netherlands' National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, believes that his team has finally found a possible answer to the mystery behind MERS. “Finding the (MERS) virus is like finding a needle in a haystack, but finding the antibodies at least gives you an indication of where to look,” he said in a statement to USA Today.
They will soon be testing camels located in the Middle East which they believe may yield similar results. Camels in the region are suppliers of milk and other products which humans use. They also serve as a mode of transportation.
Another possible source of the MERS virus are bats. Scientists were thinking that the bats have infected the camels which they have passed to humans.
The study was published in the online journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.
