Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a persistent zoonotic pathogen with frequent spillover from dromedary camels to humans in the Arabian Peninsula, resulting in limited outbreaks of MERS with a high case-fatality rate. Full genome sequence data from camel-derived MERS-CoV variants show diverse lineages circulating in domestic camels with frequent recombination. More than 90% of the available full MERS-CoV genome sequences derived from camels are from just two countries, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and United Arab Emirates (UAE). In this study, we employ a novel method to amplify and sequence the partial MERS-CoV genome with high sensitivity from nasal swabs of infected camels. We recovered more than 99% of the MERS-CoV genome from field-collected samples with greater than 500 TCID 50 equivalent per nasal swab from camel herds sampled in Jordan in May 2016. Our subsequent analyses of 14 camel-derived MERS-CoV genomes show a striking lack of genetic diversity circulating in Jordan camels relative to MERS-CoV genome sequences derived from large camel markets in KSA and UAE. The low genetic diversity detected in Jordan camels during our study is consistent with a lack of endemic circulation in these camel herds and reflective of data from MERS outbreaks in humans dominated by nosocomial transmission following a single introduction as reported during the 2015 MERS outbreak in South Korea. Our data suggest transmission of MERS-CoV among two camel herds in Jordan in 2016 following a single introduction event.
【저자키워드】 zoonoses, Coronaviruses, MERS-CoV, viral genomics, Phylogenomics, population genomics, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus, nosocomial, Human, variant, Transmission, MERS, Saudi Arabia, sensitivity, pathogen, outbreak, zoonotic, Lineage, Recombination, genetic diversity, circulation, nasal swab, Jordan, South Korea, Endemic, Middle East, Arabian Peninsula, Genome sequence data, Kingdom, sequence, circulating, TCID, greater, resulting, lack, reported, amplify, MERS-CoV genome, subsequent analysis, United Arab Emirate, 【제목키워드】 respiratory, Jordan, Diversity, Middle East, Camel, Dromedary, Limited,