background: middle east respiratory syndrome (mers) is a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus. after the primary onset of mers in saudi arabia, in september 2015 cases began to increase. the number of laboratory-affirmed cases by mers-cov in the middle east has been being increased recently. method: in this current review article, by using the terms “mers” and “coronavirus” we firs...

conclusions this study showed that the developed rrt-pcr assays are rapid, reliable, reproducible, specific, sensitive, and simple tools for detection of mers-cov. finally, a kit consisting of two assay signatures and controls was assembled, which can be distributed to public health laboratories in iran to support international mers-cov surveillance and public health response. results the upe a...

The recent outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in Korea was unexpected that laboratory response had to be built up urgently during the outbreak. The outbreak was almost all healthcare-associated, which was aggravated by lack of availability in laboratory diagnosis of MERS-CoV on site. On behalf of the MERS joint public and private sector response committee (MERS Joint committee)...

The recently reported Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causes severe respiratory illness in humans with an approximately 30% mortality rate. The envelope spike glycoprotein on the surface of MERS-CoV mediates receptor binding, membrane fusion, and viral entry. We previously reported two human monoclonal antibodies that target the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike...

The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first isolated in 2012, and circulated worldwide with high mortality. The continual outbreaks of MERS-CoV highlight the importance of developing antiviral therapeutics. Here, we rationally designed a novel fusion inhibitor named MERS-five-helix bundle (MERS-5HB) derived from the six-helix bundle (MERS-6HB) which was formed by the p...

BACKGROUND Molecular detection of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) using real-time reverse transcription (rRT)-PCR assays is the method of choice for diagnosis of MERS. We evaluated the performance of the PowerChek MERS (upE & ORF1a) real-time PCR Kit (PowerChek MERS assay; Kogene Biotech, Korea) a one-step rRT-PCR assay for the qualitative detection of MERS-CoV. METHOD...

Middle East Respiratory syndrome (MERS) first emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and remains a global health concern. The objective of this study was to compare the clinical features and risk factors for adverse outcome in patients with RT-PCR confirmed MERS and in those with acute respiratory disease who were MERS-CoV negative, presenting to the King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh between Oc...

The largest nosocomial outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) occurred in South Korea in 2015. Health Care Personnel (HCP) are at high risk of acquiring MERS-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infections, similar to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infections first identified in 2003. This study described the similarities and differences in epidemiological an...