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KMID : 1143420180110250809
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Public Health Weekly Report
2018 Volume.11 No. 25 p.809 ~ p.812
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Prevalence and genetic analysis of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus
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Kim Jeong-Min
Chung Yoon-Seok
Kang Chun
Yang Jeong-Sun
Lee Joo-Yeon
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Abstract
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Background: Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causes severe respiratory diseases such as pneumonia in humans and confers high mortality worldwide. In Korea, a total of 186 infected cases and 38 deaths (20.4%) were reported in 2015. Although genetic factors related to human infection or species-to-species transmission have been reported, they remain unclear and emerging variants are possible. Of its genes, the spike (S) gene plays important roles by binding to cellular receptors and inducing host-neutralizing antibodies, and it is related with viral evolution. Therefore, the epidemiological events need to be monitored and the virological characteristics need to be investigated.
Methodology: As the occurrence of MERS-CoV has been consistently reported in the Middle East, the surveillance system and related research must be strengthened. For this purpose, we intended to analyze the genetic characteristics of Korean MERS-CoV.
Results: Complete sequences of the Korean MERS-Cov strain (MERS-CoV/KOR/KNIH/001_2_2015, KT326819) were compared with those of prototype EMC (JX869069) and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia isolates (KX154686, MG011351, MG011352, MG011360) in 2016 and 2017. The I529T variation in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) was found only in the KT326819 virus, but not at the residue that was bound to the receptor. Several variations including those in the external region of the RBD were also observed in the Korean isolate.
Conclusion: Further investigations are needed to determine whether these substitutions may affect biological characteristics including receptor-binding affinity to human DPP4 receptors and pathogenicity.
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KEYWORD
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Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Respiratory disease, Genetic factors, Prototype, Receptor-binding domain
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