7/29/2019 Camels Linked to Mystery Disease

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Camels linked to mystery diseaseMERS first showed up in a man from Saudi Arabia. There as in Egypt (shown here), camels have long been acommon mode of off-road travel. Credit: iStockphoto

A mysterious and deadly virus has sickened 94 people killing 46 in parts of the Middle East,

Europe and northern Africa. A new study finds that camels (the one-humped type) may have

introduced the new disease to people.

The germ responsible is a virus that lives in peoples lungs, throats and noses. Scientists recently

named the disease it causes Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS.

Scientists discovered it after a few people became sick with severe pneumonia. This condition

inflames and damages lungs. After examining the germs DNA, researchers discovered that the virus

is related to some that infect bats. But no one with the disease had any known contact with bats.

Now researchers find that 50 retired racing camels from the Middle East nation of Oman carry

antibodies against the MERS virus in their blood. Antibodies are proteins made by the immune

system. They help identify or destroy foreign substances in the blood. They also serve as a marker of

which particular foreign substance their host had encountered.

Finding antibodies in the blood of dromedary camels suggests the animals had been exposed toMERS. (Dromedary camels are the one-humped type common in North Africa and the Middle East.)

An international team of researchers described their findings August 9 in the medical journal Lancet

Infectious Diseases.

The researchers also found low levels of antibodies against the MERS virus in the blood of dromedary

camels from the Canary Islands, off of Africas northwest coast.

None of the exposed camels appeared sick. And neither Oman nor the Canary Islands has reported

human cases of MERS. But unconfirmed reports suggest some people with MERS in other countries

may have been around camels or goats before falling ill.

The results could mean that camels and camel relatives, such as goats, may be a link in a chain of

infection that can sicken people. It might also be that a virus similar to MERS has been in camels for a

long time but only recently gained the ability to infect people.

Camels are a common livestock species in the Middle East and North Africa, where they are used for

racing. They also are a source of meat and milk. So there are many ways people might contact

infected animals, the researchers note.

Power Words

7/29/2019 Camels Linked to Mystery Disease

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antibodies Any of a large number of Y-shaped proteins that the body produces to fend off infectious

invaders such as bacteria and viruses. Antibodies neutralize, tag or destroy viruses, bacteria and

other foreign substances in the blood.

infection The successful invasion of adisease-causing microorganism into the body where it

multiples, possibly causing serious injury to tissues (such as the skin, lungs, gut or brain).

inflammation An immune system response to injury or infection. White blood cells flock to the site.

The cells gobble microbes and release chemicals to fight the infection. But the chemicals can cause

heat, redness, swelling and pain.

pneumonia A lung disease in which infection by a virus or bacterium causes inflammation and tissue

damage. Sometimes the lungs fill with fluid or mucus. Symptoms include fever, chills, cough and

trouble breathing.

virus A molecule containing genetic information and enclosed in a protein shell. A virus which can

cause illness can live only in the cells of living creatures. Although scientists frequently refer to

viruses as live or dead, in fact no virus is truly alive. It doesnt eat like animals do, or make its own

food the way plants do. It must hijack the cellular machinery of a living cell in order to reproduce.