Korea Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Discovers Mutation In MERS Virus
The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was observed to have undergone a mutation that could possibly alter its capability to spread among humans and increase its fatality rate, the government revealed Friday.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) carried out an analysis using sputum specimens of eight patients infected with the MERS inducing coronavirus. Yonhap News Agency reported that the bodily fluids showed signs of slight genetic variation in spike glycoprotein. The findings were different from the previously documented cases.
Scientifically, spike glycoprotein is a component of the virus that attaches the viron to the cell membrane and penetrates a living human cell, initiating the infection.
According to documentations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the virus was first identified in South Korea on May 20 after a traveler from the Middle East was found to have been infected. Eight months later, the respiratory disease 38 lives in the country. Health reports also indicated that a total of 186 confirmed patientsinfected with the MERS-CoV were identified, and thousands were placed under quarantine for safety measures.
"A mutation did take place, but it is doubtful that it could have meaningfully altered the capability of the virus to spread from person to person and its ability to make people sick," a KCDC official said.
A state researcher added, "All we know for certain is that a variation occurred, with more detailed analysis needed to see what effect it had on the spread."
On the other hand, a report by the National Center for Biotechnology Information indicates that there is no evidence of viral mutation that could modify the virus' mode of transmission or virulence.
Paik Soon Young, a microbiology professor at the Catholic University of Korea, said the spike glycoprotein mutation is an essential finding with regard to the MERS spread and can be used to explain more about the virus and disease. According to Park, MERS is not only infectious in the Middle East, but is widely spreading in other countries as well, including South Korea
"There is a need to focus the country's research capability on finding the reason for the change," he said.
The Korean government officially declared South Korea free of MERS on Dec. 23. It also confirmed that the virus does not impose an enormous threat to public health and safety. However, health officials are carefully monitoring any developments related to the virus as a precaution.
