Advances in the researches of genomic characterization and molecular detection of Middel East respiratory syndrome coronavirus / 中华预防医学杂志

Middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was recently identified as a novel human coronavirus known to infect human with high mortality. It belongs to C clade of the betacoronavirus shown the similar genomic structure as other human coronaviruses.To date, some different subtypes of the viral genome were identified but its origin was unclear. Some evidences indicated it maybe came from the bats or dromedary. And series of molecular detection methods have been established and applied in lab and clinic.