Local and introduced lineages drive MERS-CoV recombination in Egyptian camels

作者：Mokhtar R. Gomaa, Kimberly M. Edwards, Ruixuan Wang, Ahmed El Taweel, Yassmin Moatasim, Omnia Kutkat, Mina Nabil Kamel, H. El-Nagar, Dhanasekaran Vijaykrishna, Mohamed A. Ali, Ghazi Kayali, Rabeh El‐Shesheny · 发表于：Journal of Virology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1128/jvi.00641-25 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research、Animal Diversity and Health Studies、Animal Virus Infections Studies

Dromedary camels are the primary reservoir for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), a zoonotic coronavirus responsible for sporadic human infections. While clade B predominates in the Arabian Peninsula and is frequently linked to zoonotic outbreaks and household secondary transmission, clade C circulates primarily in African camels, with limited evidence of human infections. The extent of MERS-CoV transmission, genetic diversity, and cross-species potential in North Africa remains poorly characterized. Here, we investigate MERS-CoV incidence, seroprevalence, and genomic recombination in dromedary camels and sympatric livestock across slaughterhouses and farms in Egypt. MERS-CoV was detected in 12% of camels sampled at slaughterhouses, with no evidence of infection in cattle, buffalo, sheep, or goats. Seroprevalence was higher in slaughtered camels (79%) than camels on farms (12%). Phylogenetic analyses of MERS-CoV genomes obtained from dromedary camels revealed an introduction of clade B into Egypt, originating from the Arabian Peninsula. Furthermore, we identified recombination events between clades B and C, in addition to events within each clade. This included at least one clade C virus that acquired multiple genomic regions from the newly introduced clade B viruses. These findings suggest that newly introduced MERS-CoV strains can recombine with locally circulating viruses, generating novel variants with potential zoonotic implications and challenging ...