Post-pandemic MERS-CoV still presents risks

Post-pandemic MERS-CoV still presents risks Darryl Falzarano, Research Scientist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO), discusses potential solutions that are needed to tackle the coronavirus known as MERS-CoV. The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly brought new tools to protect us from coronaviruses – in the form of effective vaccines and antivirals. While these preventatives and therapeutics provide a basis for the future development of additional countermeasures, current data suggests that these advances do not offer much assistance against another, much more pathogenic coronavirus, known as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Since its discovery in 2012, there have been 2,605 reported cases of MERS-CoV, with most cases occurring in the Arabian Peninsula. The comparatively small number of cases has resulted in 936 deaths – a very high (35%) case-fatality rate.