RIYADH: The Saudi government said yesterday that a camel in Jeddah had tested positive for MERS, the first case of an animal infected with the coronavirus that has killed 64 people worldwide.
The camel owned by a person diagnosed with the disease had “tested positive in preliminary checks,” the health ministry said, adding it was working with other ministries to “isolate the virus and compare its genetic structure with that of the patient”.
If the virus carried by the camel and that of the patient “prove to be identical, this would be a first scientific discovery worldwide, and a door to identify the source of the virus”, the ministry added.
