Whew.
Twitter tonight has had an almost constant stream of Tweets from @WHO and @HaertlG including these...
The most critical question remains: type of human exposures that result in Middle East respiratory syndrome infection http://t.co/oKnCGkvwpm
— WHO (@WHO) August 9, 2013
Middle East respiratory syndrome antibodies found in camels, yet most human cases do not have a history of direct contact with camels #MERS
— WHO (@WHO) August 9, 2013
It is premature to rule out possibility that animals other than camels might serve as a reservoir or an intermediate host for #MERS
— WHO (@WHO) August 9, 2013
.@doctorrhonda @nytimesscience @MarkSilvanoNYC Good to be cautious when interpreting these #camel #MERS results. Only antibodies found. 1/2
— Gregory Härtl (@HaertlG) August 9, 2013
.@doctorrhonda @nytimesscience @MarkSilvanoNYC May be cross-reactivity. And we don't know yet how humans get infected with #MERS 2/2
— Gregory Härtl (@HaertlG) August 9, 2013
I think those first 2 are particularly useful. I wasn't aware of how much, or how little camel contact there had been. Good to know.
WHO also points to today's updated FAQ on the MERS-CoV - please check out the new material.
However, is it not worth being a little positive about this finding? These seem fairly negative responses given that it is our first non-bat lead so far. In a disease with so many unknowns I think today's new research holds up as a pretty good contribution towards improved understanding.
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