Updating the very model of a modern mammal-camel....

The new findings from the case-control study out of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (and US CDC) deserve an update of my old model of how one might become infected with MERS-CoV after exposure to an infected camel.[1,2]

Some of the possible ways in which MERS-CoV may be spread from an infected
camel to a human in direct or close contact with the camel or with surfaces
onto which MERS-CoV-laden camel excretions or secretions have been deposited.

The major change is the removal of the ingestion options. As readers of this blog will know, I've never been a "believer" in that route of infection, and the new study would seem to support that gut feeling with some facts.

As ever, the distinction between direct contact and being close enough to be exposed to droplets that are inhaled, has not been possible and wasn't attempted. The word "droplet" does not appear anywhere in the paper. In fact, animal contact and droplet-producing processes are all rolled together in the new study under the direct contact banner - so I have retained droplets among the possible risks shown in the figure.

References...

1. http://virologydownunder.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/it-was-camel-in-library-with-mers-cov.html
2. http://virologydownunder.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/camels-at-centre-aerosol-all-around.html