Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causes transient lower respiratory tract infection in rhesus macaques

Abstract

Significance The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is the latest emerged coronavirus causing severe respiratory disease with a high case fatality rate in humans. To better understand the disease caused by MERS-CoV, we developed a rhesus macaque model. Infection of rhesus macaques with MERS-CoV resulted in the rapid development of a transient pneumonia, with MERS-CoV replication largely restricted to the lower respiratory tract. This affinity of MERS-CoV for the lungs partly explains the severity of the disease observed in humans. The MERS-CoV rhesus macaque model will be instrumental in developing and testing vaccine and treatment options for an emerging viral pathogen with pandemic potential.

Keywords

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirusRespiratory tractVirologyImmunologyBiologyViral sheddingTropismPneumoniaRespiratory systemVirusTissue tropismViral replicationCoronavirusMedicineInfectious disease (medical specialty)DiseasePathologyInternal medicineCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

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Publication Info

Year: 2013
Type: article
Volume: 110
Issue: 41
Pages: 16598-16603
Citations: 321
Access: Closed

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APA Style

                            
                                
                                    Emmie de Wit, 
                                
                                    Angela L. Rasmussen, 
                                
                                    Darryl Falzarano
                                
                                et al.
                            
                            (2013). 
                            Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causes transient lower respiratory tract infection in rhesus macaques. 
                            Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
                            , 110
                            (41)
                            , 16598-16603.
                            https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1310744110
                        

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1310744110