Strain of Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus
MERS coronavirus EMC/2012 (MERS coronavirus Erasmus Medical Center/2012 ) is astrain ofcoronavirus isolated from thesputum of the first person to become infected with what was later namedMiddle East respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus MERS-CoV ), a virus that causesMiddle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] [ 4]
An investigation of bat roosts inBisha , the hometown of the index patient, by theSaudi Ministry of Health discovered anEgyptian tomb bat in a large roost close to theindex patient 's home.Phylogenetic analysis showed a 100% match between the virus isolated from the bat and MERS coronavirus EMC/2012 isolated from the index patient.[ 5]
MERS coronavirus EMC/2012 is the sixth coronavirus known to infect humans and the first human virus withinbetacoronavirus lineage C . It is a newgenotype which is related to batcoronaviruses , specifically an Egyptian tomb bat, and is not the same beta-CoV as theSARS-CoV , but is distantly related.[ 3] [ 6]
^ Zaki, AM; van Boheemen, S; Bestebroer, TM; Osterhaus, AD; Fouchier, RA (2012)."Isolation of a novel coronavirus from a man with pneumonia in Saudi Arabia" .N Engl J Med .367 (19):1814– 20.doi :10.1056/nejmoa1211721 hdl :1765/63498 PMID 23075143 . ^ Holmes, KV; Dominguez, SR (January 2013)."The new age of virus discovery: genomic analysis of a novel human betacoronavirus isolated from a fatal case of pneumonia" .mBio .4 (1): e00548–12.doi :10.1128/mBio.00548-12 .PMC 3546555 PMID 23300251 . ^a b Van Boheemen, S; de Graaf, M; Lauber, C; Bestebroer, TM; Raj, VS; Zaki, AM; Osterhaus, AD; Haagmans, BL; Gorbalenya, AE; Snijder, EJ; Fouchier, RA (November 2012)."Genomic characterization of a newly discovered coronavirus associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome in humans" .mBio .3 (6): 6.doi :10.1128/mBio.00473-12 .PMC 3509437 PMID 23170002 . ^ Chan, JF; Li, KS; To, KK; Cheng, VC; Chen, H; Yuen, KY (25 March 2013)."Is the discovery of the novel human betacoronavirus 2c EMC/2012 (HCoV-EMC) the beginning of another SARS-like pandemic?" .J Infect .65 (6):477– 89.doi :10.1016/j.jinf.2012.10.002 PMC 7112628 PMID 23072791 . ^ Memish, Ziad A.; Mishra, Nischay; Olival, Kevin J.; Fagbo, Shamsudeen F.; Kapoor, Vishal; Epstein, Jonathan H.; Alhakeem, Rafat; Durosinloun, Abdulkareem; Al Asmari, Mushabab; Islam, Ariful; Kapoor, Amit; Briese, Thomas; Daszak, Peter; Al Rabeeah, Abdullah A.; Lipkin, W. Ian (2013)."Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus in Bats, Saudi Arabia" .Emerging Infectious Diseases .19 (11):1819– 23.doi :10.3201/eid1911.131172 .PMC 3837665 PMID 24206838 . ^ Chan, JF; Li, KS; To, KK; Cheng, VC; Chen, H; Yuen, KY (December 2012)."Is the discovery of the novel human betacoronavirus 2c EMC/2012 (HCoV-EMC) the beginning of another SARS-like pandemic?" .J Infect .65 (6):477– 89.doi :10.1016/j.jinf.2012.10.002 PMC 7112628 PMID 23072791 .
