Risk factors for MERS coronavirus infection in dromedary camels in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Morocco, 2015

Eve Miguel (1, 2, 3) , Véronique Chevalier (1) , Gelagay Ayelet (4) , M.Nadji Bencheikh (5) , Hiver Boussini (6) , Daniel Ka Chu (7) , Ikhlass El Berbri (5) , Ouaffa Fassi-Fihri (5) , Bernard Faye (8) , Getnet Fekadu (9) , Vladimir Grosbois (1) , Boon C. Ng (7) , Rushika Perera (7) , Timothy Y. C So (7) , Adama Traore (6) , Françoise Roger (2, 10) , Malik Peiris (7)

1 UPR AGIRs - Animal et gestion intégrée des risques
2 MIVEGEC - Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle
3 IRD [France-Ouest] - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
4 National Veterinary Institute
5 IAV Hassan II - Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II
6 Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles
7 University of Hong Kong
8 UMR SELMET - Systèmes d'élevage méditerranéens et tropicaux
9 HU - Haramaya University
10 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Understanding Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) transmission in dromedary camels is important, as they consitute a source of zoonotic infection to humans. To identify risk factors for MERS-CoV infection in camels bred in diverse conditions in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Morocco, blood samples and nasal swabs were sampled in February-March 2015. A relatively high MERS-CoV RNA rate was detected in Ethiopia (up to 15.7%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 8.2-28.0), followed by Burkina Faso (up to 12.2%; 95% CI: 7-20.4) and Morocco (up to 7.6%; 95% CI: 1.9-26.1). The RNA detection rate was higher in camels bred for milk or meat than in camels for transport (p = 0.01) as well as in younger camels (p = 0.06). High seropositivity rates (up to 100%; 95% CI: 100-100 and 99.4%; 95% CI: 95.4-99.9) were found in Morocco and Ethiopia, followed by Burkina Faso (up to 84.6%; 95% CI: 77.2-89.9). Seropositivity rates were higher in large/medium herds (>= 51 camels) than small herds (p = 0.061), in camels raised for meat or milk than for transport (p = 0.01), and in nomadic or sedentary herds than in herds with a mix of these lifestyles (p < 0.005).

Mots clés: upper respiratory-tract; saudi-arabia; cov infection; antibodies; transmission; evolution; africa; Infectious Diseases

Domaines: Biologie animale

Eve Miguel, Véronique Chevalier, Gelagay Ayelet, M.Nadji Bencheikh, Hiver Boussini, et al.. Risk factors for MERS coronavirus infection in dromedary camels in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Morocco, 2015. Eurosurveillance, 2017, 22 (13), pp.15-24. ⟨10.2807/1560-7917.es.2017.22.13.30498⟩. ⟨hal-01605854⟩