MERS virus: Drying out the reservoir

The recently discovered coronavirus now referred to as MERS (for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) causes an infectious respiratory disease in humans, which can be fatal. The virus is thought to be transmitted to humans primarily via contact with dromedary camels. Now researchers led by virologist Gerd Sutter at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich, in collaboration with teams led by Professor Bart L. Haagmans of the Erasmus Medical Center (MC) in Rotterdam and Professor Albert Osterhaus of University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation (TiHo), have successfully tested a candidate vaccine against MERS, in camels. “We have been able to show, for the first time, that our vaccine can significantly reduce the virus load in infected camels,” says Sutter. The results of the trial appear in the latest issue of the journal “Science”. The new vaccine, MVA-MERS-S, was developed by Sutter and his team two years ago. In cooperation with researchers based at Philipps...