Nucleocapsid gene analysis from an imported case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Malaysia

Nucleocapsid gene analysis from an imported case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Malaysia

Nor Aziyah Mat-Rahim, Tengku Rogayah Tengku Abdul Rashid, Jeyanthi Suppiah, Ravindran Thayan, Apandi Mohd Yusof, Zainah Sa’at

Objective: To describe the complete nucleocapsid (N) gene region of Middle East respiratorysyndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) from imported case in Malaysia and the relations withhuman- and camel-derived MERS-CoV.Methods: Combination of throat and nasal swab specimens was subjected to viral RNAextraction. For screening, the extracted RNA was subjected to real-time RT-PCR targetingupstream of E gene, open reading frame 1b and open reading frame 1a. For confirmation,the RNA was subjected to RT-PCR targeting partial part of the RNA-dependent RNApolymerase and nucleocapsid, followed by amplification of complete N gene region.Nucleotide sequencing of the first Malaysian case of MERS-CoV was performed following theconfirmation with real-time RT-PCR detection.Results: Initial analysis of partial RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and N gene revealedthat the nucleotides had high similarity to Jeddah_1_2013 strain. Analysis of complete Ngene region (1 242 nucleotides) from the case showed high similarity and yet distinct to thenucleotide sequences of camel-derived MERS-CoV.Conclusions: From the finding, there are possibilities that the patient acquired the infectionfrom zoonotic transmission from dromedary camels.

2015

Middle East respiratory syndrome, coronavirus, imported case, Malaysia, nucleocapsid gene, Dromedary camels

DOI: 10.1016/S2222-1808(15)60833-7

Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease

Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease Editorial Office

Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine, Medicine

EN