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Several recent studies provide details that, taken together, yield a fuller picture of the ecology of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
Meyer and colleagues analyzed 651 dromedary serum samples from the United Arab Emirates. Of these, 151 were collected in 2003 — well before the first recognized human cases of MERS — and 500 were obtained in 2013. All 151 obtained in 2003 had antibodies against MERS-CoV; overall, 97% of the dromedaries were seropositive, and 60% had MERS-CoV–neutralizing antibody titers >1280. The researchers also tested 16 samples from camels in Germany and 5 from dromedaries born in a closed research facility in Dubai. All of these animals were seronegative.
In Egypt, Chu and colleagues collected …