Epidemiology and Scenario Simulations of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) Disease Spread and Control for Dromedary Camels in United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Simple Summary Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) is a coronavirus-caused viral respiratory disease. MERS-CoV is a zoonotic virus that spreads between animals and humans. The objectives of this research include simulation of MERS-CoV spread using a customized animal disease spread model (i.e., customized stochastic model for the United Arab Emirates (UAE); analyzing the MERS-CoV spread and prevalence based on camel age groups and identifying the control MERS-CoV strategies to aid the decision-maker in the selection of the optimum strategy to control the spread of the disease. The results of this research conclude that movement control is the optimum "best" strategy to control the spread of MERS-CoV.Abstract Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) is a coronavirus-caused viral respiratory infection initially detected in Saudi Arabia in 2012. In UAE, high seroprevalence (97.1) of MERS-CoV in camels was reported in several Emirate of Abu Dhabi studies, including camels in zoos, public escorts, and slaughterhouses. The objectives of this research include simulation of MERS-CoV spread using a customized animal disease spread model (i.e., customized stochastic model for the UAE; analyzing the MERS-CoV spread and prevalence based on camels age groups and identifying the optimum control MERS-CoV strategy. This study found that controlling animal mobility is the best management technique for minimizing epidemic length and the number of affected farms. This study also found that disease dissemination differs amongst camels of three ages: camel kids under the age of one, young camels aged one to four, and adult camels aged four and up; because of their immunological state, kids, as well as adults, had greater infection rates. To save immunization costs, it is advised that certain age groups be targeted and that intense ad hoc unexpected vaccinations be avoided. According to the study, choosing the best technique must consider both efficacy and cost.