MERS coronavirus EMC/2012
| HCoV-EMC/2012 | |
|---|---|
| |
| MERS-CoV particles as seen by negative stain electron microscopy. Virions contain characteristic club-like projections emanating from the viral membrane. | |
| Virus classification | |
| Group: | Group IV ((+)ssRNA)
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| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Subfamily: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | HCoV-EMC/2012
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HCoV-EMC/2012, or Human Coronavirus Erasmus Medical Center/2012 is the name of a novel strain of coronavirus isolated from the sputum of the first person to become infected with what was later named Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, or MERS-CoV.[1][2][3][4]
Natural reservoir
An investigation of bat roosts in Bisha, the hometown of the index patient, by the Saudi Ministry of Health discovered an Egyptian tomb bat in a large roost close to the index patient's home. Phylogenetic analysis showed a 100% match between the virus isolated from the bat and HCoV-EMC/2012 isolated from the index patient.[5]
Virology
HCoV-EMC/2012 is the sixth coronavirus known to infect humans and the first human virus within betacoronavirus lineage C. It is a new genotype which is related to bat coronaviruses, specifically an Egyptian tomb bat, and is not the same beta-CoV as the SARS-CoV, but is distantly related.[3][6]
See also
References
- ^ Zaki AM, van Boheemen S, Bestebroer TM, Osterhaus AD, Fouchier RA. Isolation of a novel coronavirus from a man with pneumonia in Saudi Arabia. N Engl J Med. 2012;367:1814–20
- ^ Holmes KV, Dominguez SR. The new age of virus discovery: genomic analysis of a novel human betacoronavirus isolated from a fatal case of pneumonia. Molecular Bio. 2013 Jan 8;4(1):e00548-12.
- ^ 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.Genomic characterization of a newly discovered coronavirus associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome in humans.Molecular Bio. 2012 Nov 20;3(6).
- ^ "Is the discovery of the novel human betacoronavirus... [J Infect. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI". Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. 2013-03-25. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
- ^ http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/19/11/13-1172_article.htm
- ^ Chan JF, Li KS, To KK, Cheng VC, Chen H, Yuen KY.Is the discovery of the novel human betacoronavirus 2c EMC/2012 (HCoV-EMC) the beginning of another SARS-like pandemic?J Infect. 2012 Dec;65(6):477-89.