Owners Question Camels’ Link with MERS
JEDDAH: Although the government has proven conclusively that camels are passing on the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus to humans, there are some people who reject these conclusions, according to a report in a local publication on Thursday.
The report stated that these conclusions were drawn from research conducted by 40 government investigative teams in each region of the country on 8,000 camels. The findings showed that there were varying numbers of camels infected with MERS in several cities, the report said.
Another medical study showed that a camel with MERS can pass on the virus to a human being over a distance of 1 meter. The study also found that shepherds and owners were not becoming sick because they were relatively young and in good health, while people with weak immune systems were most at risk, the report stated.
The publication reported that during a tour of the Camel Market, or Souq Al-Jamal, near Janadriyah in Riyadh, there were much fewer camels on view, with some saying this was probably because the Riyadh municipality removed several pens.
However, several vendors and shepherds said many owners had taken their animals away from the area because they were afraid the government would start culling the animals.
“The traders of Al-Mazaiyen camels, the most expensive type, have hidden their camels and replaced them with another less expensive ones because they are afraid they may be infected with the virus,” one person was quoted as saying.
A camel owner Abu Baddah accused the media of sensationalist reporting. “I have been working closely with camels for years. Many shepherds work for me and none of them has become infected.”
He said he only heard about people becoming infected in other areas far from Janadriyah; and argued that Sudan has many camels but there has been no reports in that country of MERS infections.
Another man said that the decision by the Haj and Health Ministries to ban camel slaughter during the pilgrimage this year had hit them hard. “This ban caused prices to drop sharply and was an injustice,” he said.
He said the ministries should not have issued a blanket ban but tested all camels before they entered Makkah. He accused the Health Ministry of hiding facts about the virus.