Some pathological observations on the naturally infected dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia 2018–2019

Alnaeem, Abdelmohsen; Kasem, Samy; Qasim, Ibrahim; Al-Doweriej, Ali; Al-Houfufi, Ali; Alwazan, Abdulatif; Albadrani, Abdalaziz; Alshaammari, Khuzayyim; Refaat, Mohamed; Al-Shabebi, Abdulkarem; Hemida, Maged Gomaa

doi:10.1080/01652176.2020.1781350

Cited by 12 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…We screened nasal swabs from 69 dromedary camels with real-time PCR to identify some active MERS-CoV animal shedders. The physical examination of these animals before slaughter showed no obvious clinical respiratory signs [ 22 ]. Despite some mild rhinorrhea in a limited number of animals.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies reported the normal structure of the respiratory tract in young and adult species of some animals, especially cattle, by the SEM; however, the histology of the respiratory tract of camels by SEM is still understudied. In a recent study, we showed some pathological alterations in the respiratory organs of three dromedary camels naturally infected with MERS-CoV by the H&E compared to two non-infected animals [ 22 ]. We first confirmed the detection of MERS-CoV-S and MERS-CoV-NC antigens in the tissues of these three animals by the IHC technique [ 22 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Scanning Electron Microscopic Findings on Respiratory Organs of Some Naturally Infected Dromedary Camels with the Lineage-B of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia—2018

Alnaeem

Kasem

Qasim³

et al. 2021

Pathogens

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The currently known animal reservoir for MERS-CoV is the dromedary camel. The clinical pattern of the MERS-CoV field infection in dromedary camels is not yet fully studied well. Some pathological changes and the detection of the MERS-CoV antigens by immunohistochemistry have been recently reported. However, the nature of these changes by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) was not revealed. The objective of this study was to document some changes in the respiratory organs induced by the natural MERS-CoV infection using the SEM. We previously identified three positive animals naturally infected with MERS-CoV and two other negative animals. Previous pathological studies on the positive animals showed varying degrees of alterations. MERS-CoV-S and MERS-CoV-Nc proteins were detected in the organs of positive animals. In the current study, we used the same tissues and sections for the SEM examination. We established a histopathology lesion scoring system by the SEM for the nasal turbinate and trachea. Our results showed various degrees of involvement per animal. The main observed characteristic findings are massive ciliary loss, ciliary disorientation, and goblet cell hyperplasia, especially in the respiratory organs, particularly the nasal turbinate and trachea in some animals. The lungs of some affected animals showed signs of marked interstitial pneumonia with damage to the alveolar walls. The partial MERS-CoV-S gene sequencing from the nasal swabs of some dromedary camels admitted to this slaughterhouse confirms the circulating strains belong to clade-B of MERS-CoV. These results confirm the respiratory tropism of the virus and the detection of the virus in the nasal cavity. Further studies are needed to explore the pathological alterations induced by MERS-CoV infection in various body organs of the MERS-CoV naturally infected dromedary camels.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scanning Electron Microscopic Findings on Respiratory Organs of Some Naturally Infected Dromedary Camels with the Lineage-B of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia—2018

Alnaeem

Kasem

Qasim³

et al. 2021

Pathogens

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“…MERS-CoV is one of the most important zoonotic coronaviruses [1,2]. Dromedary camels remain the only known reservoir of this virus until now [1,6,10,13,23]. Although the virus was identified more than eight years ago, many aspects of the transmission cycle and molecular pathogenesis require further studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The nasal swabs were collected on a viral transport media, as previously described [ 10 , 23 ], the cotton swabs were introduced deeply into the nasal openings of the target animals toward the back of the nasal passage. Each cotton piece of swabs should be soaked with a considerable amount of the nasal secretions of the animal.…”

Section: Main Textmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We selected 9/12 positive animals heavily infested with ticks and representing (15%) of the total herd for the collection of ticks. The selection of these target animals is based on the lowest Ct values (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25) among the positive animals. To confirm the identity of the positive MERS-CoV animals, we sequenced some of the amplicons targeting the E gene.…”

Section: Identification Of Some Positive Mers-cov Infected Dromedary mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lack of detection of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) nucleic acids in some Hyalomma dromedarii infesting some Camelus dromedary naturally infected with MERS-CoV

et al. 2021

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Objective The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is one of the zoonotic coronaviruses [Hemida Peer J 7:e7556, 2019; Hemida et al. One Health 8:100102, 2019]. The dromedary camels remained the only known animal reservoir for this virus. Several aspects of the transmission cycle of the virus between animals, including arthropod-borne infection, is still largely unknown. The main objective of the current work was to study the possibility of MERS-CoV transmission through some arthropod vectors, particularly the hard ticks. To achieve this objective, we identified a positive MERS-CoV dromedary camel herd using the commercial available real-time PCR kits. We collected some arthropods, particularly the ticks from these positive animals as well as from the animal habitats. We tested these arthropods for the presence of MERS-CoV viral RNAs. Results Our results showing the absence of any detectable MERS-CoV-RNAs in these arthropods despite these animals were actively shedding the virus in their nasal secretions. Our results are confirming for the first the failure of detection of the MERS-CoV in ticks infesting dromedary camels. Failure of the detection of MERS-CoV in ticks infesting positive naturally infected MERS-CoV camels is strongly suggesting that ticks do not play roles in the transmission of the virus among the animals and close contact humans.

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Exploring the potential roles of some rodents in the transmission of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus

Hemida

Alhammadi

Almathen

et al. 2021

Journal of Medical Virology

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Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is one of the recently identified zoonotic coronaviruses. The one-hump camels are believed to play important roles in the evolution and transmission of the virus. The animal-to-animal, as well as the animal-to-human transmission in the context of MERS-CoV infection, were reported. The camels shed the virus in some of their secretions, especially the nasal tract. However, there are many aspects of the transmission cycle of the virus from animals to humans that are still not fully understood. Rodents played important roles in the transmission of many pathogens, including viruses and bacteria.They have been implicated in the evolution of many human coronaviruses, especially HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-HKU1. However, the role of rodents in the transmission of MERS-CoV still requires more exploration. To achieve this goal, we identified MERS-CoV that naturally infected dromedary camel by molecular surveillance. We captured 15 of the common rodents (rats, mice, and jerboa) sharing the habitat with these animals. We collected both oral and rectal swabs from these animals and then tested them by the commercial MERS-CoV real-time-PCR kits using two targets.Despite the detection of the viral shedding in the nasal swabs of some of the dromedary camels, none of the rodents tested positive for the virus during the tenure of this study. We concluded that these species of rodents did not harbor the virus and are most unlikely to contribute to the transmission of the MERS-CoV.However, further large-scale studies are required to confirm the potential roles of rodents in the context of the MERS-CoV transmission cycle, if any.

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Some pathological observations on the naturally infected dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia 2018–2019

Abstract: Some pathological observations on the naturally infected dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in

Cited by 12 publications

References 32 publications

Scanning Electron Microscopic Findings on Respiratory Organs of Some Naturally Infected Dromedary Camels with the Lineage-B of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia—2018

Scanning Electron Microscopic Findings on Respiratory Organs of Some Naturally Infected Dromedary Camels with the Lineage-B of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia—2018

Lack of detection of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) nucleic acids in some Hyalomma dromedarii infesting some Camelus dromedary naturally infected with MERS-CoV

Exploring the potential roles of some rodents in the transmission of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus

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