Abdelmohsen Alnaeem1, Samy Kasem2,3, Ibrahim Qasim2, Ali Al-Doweriej2, Ali Al-Houfufi2, Abdulatif Alwazan2, Abdalaziz Albadrani2, Khuzayyim Alshaammari2, Mohamed Refaat4,5, Abdulkareem Al-Shabebi6, Maged Gomaa Hemida3,7. 1. Department of clinical studies, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia. 2. Department of Veterinary Services, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 3. Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, Egypt. 4. Department of Pathology, Animal Health Research Institute, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt. 5. Department of Pathology, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia. 6. Department of Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia. 7. Department of Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
Background: The natural MERS-CoV infection in dromedary camels is understudied. Recent experimental studies showed no obvious clinical signs in the infected dromedary camels.Aim: To study the pathological changes associated with natural MERS-CoV infection in dromedary camels. Methods: Tissues from three MERS-CoV positive animals as well as two negative animals were collected and examined for the presence of pathological changes. The screening of the animals was carried out first by the rapid agglutination test and then confirmed by the RT-PCR. The selected animals ranged from six to twelve months in age. The sensitivity of the latter technique was much higher in the detection of MERS-CoV than the Rapid test (14 out of 75 animals positive or 18% versus 31 out of 75 positive or 41%). Results: MERS-CoV induced marked desquamation of the respiratory epithelium accompanied by lamina propria and submucosal mononuclear cells infiltration, epithelial hyperplasia in the respiratory tract, and interstitial pneumonia. Ciliary cell loss was seen in the trachea and turbinate. In addition, degeneration of glomerular capillaries with the complete destruction of glomerular tufts that were replaced with fibrinous exudate in renal corpuscles in the renal cortex were noticed. Expression of the MERS-CoV-S1 and MERS-CoV-N proteins was revealed in respiratory tract, and kidneys. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first study describing the pathological changes of MERS-CoV infection in dromedary camels under natural conditions. In contrast to experimental infection in case of spontaneous infection interstitial pneumonea is evident at least in some affected animals.
Background: The natural MERS-CoV infection in dromedarycamels is understudied. Recent experimental studies showed no obvious clinical signs in the infecteddromedarycamels.Aim: To study the pathological changes associated with natural MERS-CoV infection in dromedarycamels. Methods: Tissues from three MERS-CoV positive animals as well as two negative animals were collected and examined for the presence of pathological changes. The screening of the animals was carried out first by the rapid agglutination test and then confirmed by the RT-PCR. The selected animals ranged from six to twelve months in age. The sensitivity of the latter technique was much higher in the detection of MERS-CoV than the Rapid test (14 out of 75 animals positive or 18% versus 31 out of 75 positive or 41%). Results:MERS-CoV induced marked desquamation of the respiratory epithelium accompanied by lamina propria and submucosal mononuclear cells infiltration, epithelial hyperplasia in the respiratory tract, and interstitial pneumonia. Ciliary cell loss was seen in the trachea and turbinate. In addition, degeneration of glomerular capillaries with the complete destruction of glomerular tufts that were replaced with fibrinous exudate in renal corpuscles in the renal cortex were noticed. Expression of the MERS-CoV-S1 and MERS-CoV-N proteins was revealed in respiratory tract, and kidneys. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first study describing the pathological changes of MERS-CoV infection in dromedarycamels under natural conditions. In contrast to experimental infection in case of spontaneous infection interstitial pneumonea is evident at least in some affected animals.
Authors: Peter Holloway; Matthew Gibson; Neeltje van Doremalen; Stephen Nash; Tanja Holloway; Michael Letko; Jacqueline M Cardwell; Bilal Al Omari; Ahmad Al-Majali; Ehab Abu-Basha; Punam Mangtani; Vincent J Munster; Javier Guitian Journal: Emerg Infect Dis Date: 2021-09 Impact factor: 6.883