ABSTRACT
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a camel-borne zoonotic virus endemic across Eastern Africa and the Middle East, with evidence of circulation in Bangladesh and Mongolia. To determine if MERS-CoV was present in Kazakhstan, in 2017-2018, we collected swabs and sera from Bactrian camels (n = 3124) and dromedary (n = 5083). The total seropositivity was 0.54% in Bactrian camels and 0.24% in dromedaries; however, we did not detect MERS-CoV RNA in swab samples. There was no difference in the probability of infection between species or sex, but younger camels had a higher probability of being seropositive, suggesting a recent introduction of the virus to Kazakhstan. The infection of both camel species indicates that they both may play a role as natural reservoirs. These results reinforce the need for continual surveillance, especially at the camel-human interface to understand the risk of zoonotic exposure.
Subject(s)
Coronavirus Infections , Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus , Animals , Camelus , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Coronavirus Infections/veterinary , Humans , Kazakhstan/epidemiology , Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus/genetics , RNAABSTRACT
The aim of this work was to evaluate the immunogenicity and neutralizing activity of sheep pox virus (SPPV; genus Capripoxvirus, family Poxviridae) structural proteins as candidate subunit vaccines to control sheep pox disease. SPPV structural proteins were identified by sequence homology with proteins of vaccinia virus (VACV) strain Copenhagen. Four SPPV proteins (SPPV-ORF 060, SPPV-ORF 095, SPPV-ORF 117, and SPPV-ORF 122), orthologs of immunodominant L1, A4, A27, and A33 VACV proteins, respectively, were produced in Escherichia coli. Western blot analysis revealed the antigenic and immunogenic properties of SPPV-060, SPPV-095, SPPV-117 and SPPV-122 proteins when injected with adjuvant into experimental rabbits. Virus-neutralizing activity against SPPV in lamb kidney cell culture was detected for polyclonal antisera raised to SPPV-060, SPPV-117, and SPPV-122 proteins. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating the virus-neutralizing activities of antisera raised to SPPV-060, SPPV-117, and SPPV-122 proteins.
