Back in August, Walid wrote about the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus. At the time, suspicions about the deadly virus coming from camels caused camel meat inspections. Suspicions about what animal the virus comes from may have been validated but how the virus is contracted by humans likely extends beyond camel meat.

SARS-like Virus from the Camel?

Via AFP / Breitbart:

The Saudi government said Monday that a camel has tested positive for MERS, in the first case of an animal infected with the coronavirus that has killed 64 people worldwide.

A camel owned by a person diagnosed with the disease had “tested positive in preliminary laboratory checks,” the health ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

The ministry said it was working with the ministry of agriculture and laboratories to “isolate the virus and compare its genetic structure with that of the patient’s”.

If the virus carried by the camel and that of the patient “prove to be identical, this would be a first scientific discovery worldwide, and a door to identify the source of the virus,” it added. {emphasis ours}

Well, we’re not geniuses but if the owner of a non-deceased camel with MERS has the virus himself, it’s a safe bet he didn’t get sick from the camel being turned into meat (logical, right?). Perhaps the patient should be asked if he ever drank the camel’s urine, which isn’t all that uncommon in Saudi Arabia, where the virus seems to be concentrated.

Contrary to the beliefs of some, this is NOT healthy: