Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV): A Review Article

Abstract

The recently emerged Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) emerged in the Middle East region in 2012. The virus is phylogenetically related to bat CoV, but other animal species like camels and goats may potentially act as an intermediate host by spreading the virus to humans. This virus is thought to cause a severe disease in patients with underlying comorbidities. Laboratory response capacity during the early stages of MERS-CoV outbreak focuses on development of virological and immunological methods for diagnosis, for contact tracing and for epidemiological studies into sources, modes of transmission, identification of risk groups and animal reservoirs. Current international recommendations do not support any specific therapies; however there are a number of agents which were used during the SARS epidemic of 2003. It is possible that these might be active against the related coronavirus; in the other hand, development of affective vaccine is crucial for preventing further pandemic of MERS-CoV. In this article we reviewed available data from MERS-CoV case reports.