Antibodies are found in camels

Researchers searching for signs of MiddleEast respiratory syndrome coronavirus ( MERS- CoV) in livestock animals have found antibodies specific to the new virus in dromedary camels. The research, published in the Lancet, suggests that these animals have encountered MERSCoV, or a closely related virus, and may be one reservoir of the virus that is causing MERS in humans.

While recent research has shown that MERSCoV can replicate in cell lines taken from bats ( which were thought to be the source of the 2002/ 03 SARS coronavirus outbreak), and is closely related to a bat coronavirus in circulation, it seems unlikely that the virus is transmitting directly from bats to humans, given the gen- erally shy and nocturnal habits of these creatures. However, given that human- to- human transmissibility of the virus appears to be rare, many researchers suspect that another animal reservoir for the virus exists.

An international team of researchers led by Dr Chantal Reusken, of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, the Netherlands, gathered 349 blood serum samples in total from a variety of livestock animals, including dromedary camels, cows, sheep, and goats, as well as from some animals closely related to dromedaries. The animals were from a variety of different countries, including Oman, the Netherlands, Spain, and Chile.