Could the MERS Virus be Infecting Camels?

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is known as a viral illness that was first reported in Saudi Arabia and is caused by a coronavirus called "Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus."

Though it's reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the virus has infected 94 reported illnesses and caused 46 deaths, scientists now believe that camels may somehow be involved in the infection of the MERS virus.

A preliminary study published Friday showed that European scientists found trace amounts of antibodies against the MERS virus in dromedary, or one-humped, camels. Yet the virus itself was not found. Finding these antibodies is a sign that at one point, the camels were infected but were able to fight off the virus before infection.

According to USA Today, antibodies were found in all 50 camel blood samples from Oman, compared to 15 of 105 samples from Spanish camels. Yet animals tested for the MERS virus in the Netherlands and Chile were tested and no traces of the MERS antibodies were found.

"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," said Marion Koopmans, chief of virology at the Netherlands' National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, the study's senior author, via USA Today. "What this tells us is that there's something circulating in camels that looks darned similar to MERS."

The MERS virus has been shown to spread between people that are in close contact, and extreme safety precautions should be taken. Transmission from infected patients to healthcare personnel have also been observed in such areas as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Kingdom, France Tunisia and even Italy, according to the CDC.

Those who experience symptoms of the MERS virus may develop severe acute respiratory illness with fever, cough and shortness of breath.

Researchers suggest that these new findings may help demonstrate important information about the virus spreading through animals and antibodies found in their blood for possible treatment.

More information regarding the study can be found in the Lancet Infectious Diseases.