Research gaps and needs on Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and other emerging zoonotic coronaviruses: report of the quadripartite technical meeting, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 27-29 November 2023
Overview
Since its identification in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Jordan in 2012, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), a zoonotic virus that can be transmitted between dromedary camels and humans, has continued to pose a significant public health, health security and economic threat to the global community. Cases of human infection, predominantly reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from countries in the Arabian Peninsula, have been exported to all regions of the globe. MERS-CoV is one of three high-impact zoonotic coronaviruses that have emerged during the past few decades and is included – along with SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 – in the WHO list of pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential prioritized for research and development.
Over the past years, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), WHO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) have regularly brought together public health and animal health representatives from affected and at-risk countries, academic scientists and subject matter experts of high-threat respiratory pathogens to enhance collaboration across all sectors worldwide. Following two global meetings held in 2017 and 2021, the meeting in November 2023 served to review the latest scientific evidence obtained since the last global consultation in 2021 and seek consensus on research priorities for MERS-CoV and other emerging coronaviruses. This report presents the meeting summary and findings.
