ETIDIOH - NEW

  Abstract Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging coronavirus that can cause zoonotic disease in humans with lethal severe viral pneumonia . Dromedary camels are the source of zoonotic infection. As of November 2025, MERS-CoV has resulted in a total of 2630 reported cases, 37% of these being fatal . The number of reported human cases has been on a decreasing trend since 2016 and reached a nadir during the COVID-19 pandemic . The reason for the reduction of cases is unclear and may be multifactorial. We hypothesized that mutations accumulating in the virus spike protein may have reduced zoonotic potential . Here, we investigate the impact of recently emerged virus spike-protein mutations on virus replication competence using pseudoviruses and replication-competent recombinant viruses. We found that virus spike variants detected in 2019 and some from 2023 show a reduced cell entry, lower viral replication and reduced fitness in human primary alveolar e...

  Risk statement    -- The scope of this Rapid Risk Assessment is to reassess the epidemiological situation of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus ( MERS-CoV ) following the recent exportation (in December 2025) of cases from the Arabian Peninsula to France and three healthcare-associated clusters reported by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in 2024–2025.  -- These events, together with the continued occurrence of sporadic cases in Arabian Peninsula countries, highlight the ongoing risk of international spread to non-endemic countries and reflect the persistent circulation of MERS-CoV in the Middle East .   -- Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a zoonotic virus transmitted to humans through direct or indirect contact with infected dromedary camels , which are the natural host of the virus.  -- First identified in humans in 2012 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Jordan , MERS-CoV causes a viral respiratory infect...

  {Summary} Overall risk statement -- At the end of 2025, the global public health risk from COVID-19 remained moderate, following the declining deaths and hospitalizations in 2022 due to high population immunity , improved clinical management, and similar virulence and characterized by sustained stability in severity indicators—including ICU admissions and in hospital mortality—throughout the following years.  -- Most SARS-CoV-2 variants now belong to the JN.1 Omicron sublineages , which show immune escape but do not result in increased disease severity compared to other Omicron sublineages.  -- Nonetheless, continued surveillance gaps , reduced genomic sequencing and sharing of sequence information, and limited reporting , especially from low- and middle-income countries, undermine a more informed risk assessment at this time.  -- SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate widely , as indicated by sentinel surveillance under GISRS and wastewater surveillance , co-circulatin...

  A wild Mute Swan in Žilinský Region. Source:  Link:  https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/7246 ____

  Abstract Recent A(H5N1) zoonotic cases linked to poultry and cattle in North America highlight the urgent need to assess the pandemic potential of emerging strains . Using male ferrets , we evaluate two B3.13 and two D1.1 genotype A(H5N1) viruses isolated from humans and observe fatal disease and varying capacities for direct contact transmission . To enhance pandemic risk assessment , we conduct aerosol sampling using cyclone BC251 and water condensation capture-based SPOT samplers and perform comparative analyses to include additional A(H5N1), A(H9N2), A(H7N9), and A(H1N1)pdm09 strains with known transmissibility profiles. Although none of the A(H5N1) strains transmit via the air, B3.13 viruses are detected at significantly higher levels compared to D1.1 strains . Here we show strong correlations between viral loads in nasal washes, airborne virus shedding, and transmissibility in ferrets , highlighting the value of these metrics for identifying zoonotic influenza viruses that ...