Camels Linked to Spread of Fatal Virus

While the virus itself has not been found in a camel yet, antibodies that react to it have been discovered in the blood of camels in Sudan, Egypt, Oman and the Canary Islands. The finding suggests that the animals had recovered from infection with the MERS virus or a close relative.

While many of the 114 confirmed MERS cases have had no contact with camels, it appears that the first confirmed or suspected cases in three separate clusters may have, and in two cases, the camels were observed to be ill.

According to the Saudi newspaper Asharq, a 38-year-old man from Batin, Saudi Arabia, who died of what was diagnosed as bacterial pneumonia was a camel dealer with at least one obviously sick camel. Later, other members of his family, including a mother, daughter and cousin, fell ill with what was diagnosed as MERS, and two died. They were part of a cluster of cases reported Sept. 7 by the World Health Organization.

In April, the magazine Science reported that a wealthy 73-year-old Abu Dhabi man fell ill shortly after contact with a sick racing camel in his stable. He flew by private jet to Germany for treatment; after his death, doctors there said they had been told that his brother had also fallen ill after contact with the camel.

The first confirmed MERS victim, the owner of a paint warehouse in Bisha, Saudi Arabia, had four pet camels, according to Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, a virologist at Columbia University who took blood samples from them. Those tests are still being done, Dr. Lipkin said.

The unconnected welter of reports shows that surveillance for the MERS virus in the Middle East is inadequate, said Henry L. Niman, a Pittsburgh biochemist who tracks viral mutations. Not enough camels are being evaluated in the countries where human cases have been found, he said, and humans who fall ill with what might be MERS in poor countries like Sudan are not being tested.

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World Briefing | Middle East: Polio Virus Found in Jerusalem’s Sewers

Polio virus has been found in Jerusalem’s sewers for the first time since Israel eliminated the disease, the nation’s Heath Ministry announced on Monday. No children are known to have been paralyzed by the disease.

Israel is conducting a nationwide vaccination drive, trying to give a million children under age 10 drops containing a live vaccine. For the last 10 years, doctors have given the injected killed vaccine used in polio-free countries, but the drops — while somewhat riskier, especially to immunocompromised children — provide greater protection.

In August, Israel’s Supreme Court quickly rejected a motion by anti-vaccine activists to freeze the campaign.

In June, the virus was found in sewage in Rahat, a small city in the Negev desert inhabited mostly by Bedouins. It slowly spread north to several cities. The strain originated in Pakistan but appeared in Cairo’s sewers in January. Previously, polio virus had not been found in Israeli sewers since 2002.

No one has been paralyzed by polio in Israel since 1988; paralysis occurs in only about 1 of 200 cases, but those infected shed virus in feces for weeks. Stool-sample testing in Israel has found dozens of asymptomatic carriers.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: September 11, 2013

A report in the World Briefing column on Tuesday about the discovery of the polio virus in Jerusalem’s sewers referred incorrectly to Israel’s use of injectable polio vaccines instead of oral drops. The injectable vaccine has been used for the last 10 years, not used “until 10 years ago.”

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