The emerging novel Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus: The “knowns” and “unknowns”

• Published in: Journal of the Formosan Medical Association Vol. 112; no. 7; pp. 372 - 381
• Main Authors: Chan, Jasper Fuk-Woo, Lau, Susanna Kar-Pui, Woo, Patrick Chiu-Yat
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Elsevier B.V 01-07-2013; Published by Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Chiroptera - virology; Coronaviridae; Coronaviridae Infections - diagnosis; Coronaviridae Infections - drug therapy; Coronaviridae Infections - epidemiology; Coronaviridae Infections - transmission; Coronaviridae Infections - virology; coronavirus; Disease Reservoirs - virology; Drug Discovery; EMC; human; Humans; Internal Medicine; Middle East; Middle East - epidemiology; Pipistrellus; Review; SARS; SARS coronavirus; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - drug therapy; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - epidemiology; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - virology; Middle East; Middle East; coronavirus; SARS; EMC; human
• ISSN: 0929-6646; 1876-0821; 0929-6646
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfma.2013.05.010

A novel lineage C betacoronavirus, originally named human coronavirus EMC/2012 (HCoV-EMC) and recently renamed Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), that is phylogenetically closely related to Tylonycteris bat coronavirus HKU4 and Pipistrellus bat coronavirus HKU5, which we discovered in 2007 from bats in Hong Kong, has recently emerged in the Middle East to cause a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-like infection in humans. The first laboratory-confirmed case, which involved a 60-year-old man from Bisha, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), who died of rapidly progressive community-acquired pneumonia and acute renal failure, was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) on September 23, 2012. Since then, a total of 70 cases, including 39 fatalities, have been reported in the Middle East and Europe. Recent clusters involving epidemiologically-linked household contacts and hospital contacts in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa strongly suggested possible human-to-human transmission. Clinical and laboratory research data generated in the past few months have provided new insights into the possible animal reservoirs, transmissibility, and virulence of MERS-CoV, and the optimal laboratory diagnostic options and potential antiviral targets for MERS-CoV-associated infection.