Camel less tahn 4 years might be the source of MERS . An international team examined more than 800 dromedary camels to detect current or past infection. They informed that more than 90% of animals comes in contact with the infection by the age of two and virus was more common in calves than in adults. The study is published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Points To Remember

1. The first reports of human Mers coronavirus infection emerged in June 2012.
2. More than 1,100 cases have been recorded and more than 400 people have died.
3. Infections have been seen in 25 countries across Europe, Asia and Africa, but Saudi Arabia has experienced the biggest burden.

What is MERS?

1. The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)  is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA novel species of the genus Betacoronavirus.
2. It is often termed as Camel Flu.
3. It was first reported in 2012.
4. The most recent outbreak was in South Korea with over 138 reported cases and 14 deaths as of 12 June and over 2300 placed under quarantine, making it the largest outbreak outside Saudi Arabia