Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus seroprevalence in domestic livestock in Saudi Arabia, 2010 to 2013

M G Hemida; R A Perera; P Wang; M A Alhammadi; L Y Siu; M Li; L L Poon; L Saif; A Alnaeem; M Peiris

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.50.20659

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Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus seroprevalence in domestic livestock in Saudi Arabia, 2010 to 2013
M G Hemida^1,2,3 , R A Perera^1,4,5 , P Wang^6,7 , M A Alhammadi² , L Y Siu^5,6 , M Li^5,6 , L L Poon^4,5 , L Saif⁸ , A Alnaeem⁹ , M Peiris^4,5,6
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Affiliations: ¹ These authors contributed equally to this work ² Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia ³ Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kaferelsheik University, Egypt ⁴ Centre of Influenza Research, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China ⁵ School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China ⁶ HKU-Pasteur Pole, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China ⁷ Key Laboratory of Protein and Peptide Pharmaceuticals, Chinese Academy of Sciences - University of Tokyo Joint Laboratory of Structural Virology and Immunology, Beijing, China ⁸ Food Animal Health Research Program, Veterinary Preventive Medicine Department, OARDC/The Ohio State University, Wooster, United States of America ⁹ Department of Clinical Studies, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia

Correspondence:
A Alnaeem
aaalnaeem kfu.edu.sa

Correspondence: M Peiris
malik hku.hk
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Citation style for this article: Hemida M G, Perera R A, Wang P, Alhammadi M A, Siu L Y, Li M, Poon L L, Saif L, Alnaeem A, Peiris M. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus seroprevalence in domestic livestock in Saudi Arabia, 2010 to 2013. Euro Surveill. 2013;18(50):pii=20659. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.50.20659 Received: 04 Dec 2013

Abstract

In Saudi Arabia, including regions of Riyadh and Al Ahsa, pseudoparticle neutralisation (ppNT) and microneutralisation (MNT) tests detected no antibodies to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in sheep (n= 100), goats (n= 45), cattle (n= 50) and chickens (n= 240). Dromedary camels however, had a high prevalence of MERS-CoV antibodies. Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) infected sera from cattle had no cross-reactivity in MERS-CoV ppNT or MNT, while many dromedary camels' sera reacted to both BCoV and MERS-CoV. Some nevertheless displayed specific serologic reaction profiles to MERS-CoV. .