Daily Monitor
Wednesday April 21 2021
Nelson Kipchirchir (R), a research associate and resident vet, draws blood from an artery in the neck of a female camel as she is held down by resident livestock handlers, at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) ranch, where the camels are regularly tested for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus as scientists monitor for indications of possible transition of the microbes from animal to humans, at the Kapiti plains ranch, located in Machakos County, on March 24, 2021. PHOTO/AFP
Summary
ILRI began researching camels in Kenya in 2013, a year after the appearance of MERS in Saudi Arabia, a coronavirus which kills an estimated 35 percent of those it infects, with some 850 deaths recorded, according to the World Health Organisation.
Kenya seeks next deadly virus among swab-averse dromedaries
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With giant swabs and grumpy camels, Kenya hunts for the next deadly virus
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With giant swabs and grumpy camels, Kenya hunts for next deadly virus
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Sunday, 18 Apr 2021 11:18 PM MYT
Sospeter Wambugu (right), a veterinary technologist, administers a nasal swab on a female camel at the Kapiti plains ranch, located in Machakos County, on March 24, 2021. AFP pic
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NAIROBI, April 18 Kicking and grunting under the restraint of three men, the camel makes its displeasure known as Kenyan veterinarian Nelson Kipchirchir swirls a giant swab in the nostril of the grumpy dromedary.
It turns out camels don’t much like being tested for coronavirus either.
But the research is critical to advance understanding of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) a far deadlier cousin of Covid-19 that scientists fear could cause the next global pandemic.