PREVALENCE AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH MIDDLE EAST RESPIRATORY SYNDROME-CoV IN HUMAN POPULATION OF CHIFRA WOREDA: CAMEL REARING AREA OF AFAR REGION, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Summary Background: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is an emerging viral zoonosis and considered as one of the major global public health threat. The infected individuals developed severe acute respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough, and shortness of breath.So far, 27 countries have reported human laboratory confirmed cases since 2012. Camels are considered as the probable source for zoonotic transmission of the virus. In Ethiopia, high sero and viro prevalence of MERS-CoV has been reported in camel population; however, human case has been not yet reported. This study was done to determine the seroprevalence and associated factors of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in Chifra woreda of Afar region, Ethiopia Methods:Random sampling technique was used at all steps and all persons above 18 years old were enrolled in selected households. Sera were tested for the presence of MERS-CoV antibodies using anti- MERS-CoV ELISA IgG kit. Result was measured at wavelength of 450 nanometers (reference between 620 and 650) and determined using ratio of extinction values (Optical density) of samples to calibrator. Samples with the extinction ratio 1.1 and above were considered positive, 0.8 and above and below 1.1 were borderline, and below 0.8 were negative Result: Totally, 341 participants enrolled with median age of participants was 25 years (range=18-77 years).Seven (2.05%) specimens were positive, 326 (95.6%) were negative and eight (2.35%) of thespecimens were found on borderline. None of the participants have used personal protective equipments while handling camels and their wastes, and none had travel history to gulf countries. From the total of 341 study participants, 329 (96.5%) had no history of chronic medical problems. In a bivariate analysis, none of our assumed risk factors were significantly associated with the presence of IgG in the participants’ specimens. Conclusion: Our study reveals that the virus has been circulating. For an emerging viral human infection, a single positivity may be considered as public health threat which makes us to say our finding has immense public health importance. This finding should be confirmed by large scale studies involving virus isolation and identification of the sequence of the virus. Keywords: Ethiopia, Human, MERS-CoV