A recent article, published in Nature Medicine, discusses a potential treatment for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).  The study utilized a monkey model, using the rhesus macaque, the only animal model that can be infected and show a range of symptoms, from acute to widespread.  Researchers were able to use a combination of interferon and ribavirin to reduce or prevent the onset of breathing abnormalities and pneumonia.  This combination also resulted in fewer copies of the viral genome and reduced inflammation in the lungs and throughout the body.

According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), this monkey model is particularly useful for research because the clinical symptoms of the coronavirus appear within 24 hours of infection.  The symptoms presented are similar to those that appear in human cases of MERS-CoV.  This model was developed by researchers at NIAID using coronavirus samples obtained from the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands.

The present research builds on earlier results published in April 2013.  NIAID describes those results as helping prevent a coronavirus from replicating in two species of monkeys.  At the time, the concern was that the antivirals interferon and ribavirin were needed in doses that were not considered safe for humans.  Researchers were working to establish a safe dose for humans and confirm the efficacy in research using a monkey model, leading to the recent study.

As of the date of this article, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) note that there have been 108 cases of MERS-CoV, 50 of which have been fatal.  The majority of the cases (86) have occurred in Saudi Arabia and all cases have been linked to four countries in or near the Arabian Peninsula.

MERS is a coronavirus of the same family as SARS.  According to the Conversation, there are concerns that MERS could be the possible source of the next global pandemic.  A 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) infected more than 8,000 people and killed almost 800.  The World Health Organization reports that MERS suddenly appeared and started infecting people in September 2012.  With 50 deaths in only 108 cases, the mortality rate is demonstrably higher than that of SARS.