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The MERS-COV virus is a zoonotic coronavirus that emerged in 2012 in KSA and caused viral illness with a case fatality rate up to 35 %. Over a decade later, the virus is still evolving and circulating. The aim of this review is to discuss the current epidemiology of MERS-COV both in humans and animals, during and post the COVID-19 pandemic. We have found that MERS-COV is still evolving in camels with new lineages being detected in Saudi Arabia. Although the number of human cases has decreased, there is a gradual resurgence in the number of cases. Furthermore, many cases are being reported without exposure to camels and/or raw products, nor contact with known human cases. This necessitates global efforts in the surveillance of asymptomatic carriers in the community, role of unknown animal reservoirs in the virus spread if any, as well as extensive genomic surveillance of the virus. This is in order to unveil and assess the genetic changes that the virus is undergoing and their according effect on the viral fitness, tropism, and virulence. These efforts are crucial for potential future pandemic preparedness, understanding the modes of transmission, as well as drug and vaccine development for MERS-COV.
Dandachi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.