Abstract

A previously unknown coronavirus was isolated from the sputum of a 60-year-old man who presented with acute pneumonia and subsequent renal failure with a fatal outcome in Saudi Arabia. The virus (called HCoV-EMC) replicated readily in cell culture, producing cytopathic effects of rounding, detachment, and syncytium formation. The virus represents a novel betacoronavirus species. The closest known relatives are bat coronaviruses HKU4 and HKU5. Here, the clinical data, virus isolation, and molecular identification are presented. The clinical picture was remarkably similar to that of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 and reminds us that animal coronaviruses can cause severe disease in humans.

Keywords

PneumoniaCoronavirusOutbreakIsolation (microbiology)VirologyBetacoronavirusSputumVirusViral pneumoniaMedicineBiologyCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)DiseaseMicrobiologyPathologyInternal medicineTuberculosisInfectious disease (medical specialty)

MeSH Terms

Blood Cell CountBlood Urea NitrogenCoronavirusCreatinineDNAViralFatal OutcomeGenomeViralHumansLungMaleMiddle AgedPhylogenyPneumoniaViralRadiographyRenal InsufficiencyReverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain ReactionSputumVirus Replication

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Publication Info

Year
2012
Type
article
Volume
367
Issue
19
Pages
1814-1820
Citations
5931
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Ali M. Zaki, Sander van Boheemen, Theo M. Bestebroer et al. (2012). Isolation of a Novel Coronavirus from a Man with Pneumonia in Saudi Arabia. New England Journal of Medicine , 367 (19) , 1814-1820. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa1211721

Identifiers

DOI
10.1056/nejmoa1211721
PMID
23075143

Data Quality

Data completeness: 81%