Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus in Bats, Saudi Arabia

For more than 15 months, officials have tried to determine what sparked the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). They have identified bats with similar viruses in Africa and Eastern Europe, but had not yet found an exact match to MERS. In a report released published Aug. 21 in Emerging Infectious Diseases, an international team of doctors from EcoHealth Alliance and Columbia University's Center for Infection and Immunity pointed to the Egyptian tomb bat, an insect-eating bat that does not typically bite humans or come near human food supplies. Researchers collected about 100 fecal samples from seven species of bats living in three locations, veterinary epidemiologist Jonathan Epstein, of EcoHealth Alliance, explained to CBSNews.com. One of the bats was a perfect match for the MERS coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause conditions ranging from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which killed about 800 people during a 2003 pandemic.

Sources:
Ziad A. Memish et al (2013) Emerging Infectious Diseases Volume 19, Number 11
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/19/11/13-1172_article.htm
CBS News, August 23, 2013
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57599866/bats-are-source-of-mysteri…