Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infects humans and dromedary camels and is responsible for an ongoing outbreak of severe respiratory illness in humans in the Middle East. Although some mutations found in camel-derived MERS-CoV strains have been characterized, most natural variation found across MERS-CoV isolates remains unstudied. We report on the environmental stability, replication kinetics, and pathogenicity of several diverse isolates of MERS-CoV, as well as isolates of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, to serve as a basis of comparison with other stability studies. Although most MERS-CoV isolates had similar stability and pathogenicity in our experiments, the camel-derived isolate C/KSA/13 had reduced surface stability, and another camel isolate, C/BF/15, had reduced pathogenicity in a small animal model. These results suggest that although betacoronaviruses might have similar environmental stability profiles, individual variation can influence this phenotype, underscoring the need for continual global viral surveillance.
【저자키워드】 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, viruses, respiratory infections, zoonoses, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, MERS-CoV, Middle East respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, pathogenicity, Strains, surface‒aerosol stability, 【초록키워드】 Mutation, Human, Variation, animal model, Betacoronavirus, stability, Surveillance, outbreak, phenotype, severe respiratory illness, strain, Middle East, acute respiratory syndrome, profiles, replication kinetics, respiratory syndrome coronavirus, infect, isolate, responsible, reduced, characterized, experiments, 【제목키워드】 respiratory, Middle East,