TY - JOUR AU - Alraddadi, Basem AU - Watson, John AU - Almarashi, Abdulatif AU - Abedi, Glen AU - Turkistani, Amal AU - Sadran, Musallam AU - Housa, Abeer AU - Almazroa, Mohammad AU - Alraihan, Naif AU - Banjar, Ayman AU - Albalawi, Eman AU - Alhindi, Hanan AU - Choudhry, Abdul Jamil AU - Meiman, Jonathan AU - Paczkowski, Magdalena AU - Curns, Aaron AU - Mounts, Anthony AU - Feikin, Daniel AU - Marano, Nina AU - Swerdlow, David AU - Gerber, Susan AU - Hajjeh, Rana AU - Madani, Tariq T1 - Risk Factors for Primary Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Illness in Humans, Saudi Arabia, 2014 T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2016 VL - 22 IS - 1 SP - 49 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Risk factors for primary Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) illness in humans are incompletely understood. We identified all primary MERS-CoV cases reported in Saudi Arabia during March–November 2014 by excluding those with history of exposure to other cases of MERS-CoV or acute respiratory illness of unknown cause or exposure to healthcare settings within 14 days before illness onset. Using a case–control design, we assessed differences in underlying medical conditions and environmental exposures among primary case-patients and 2–4 controls matched by age, sex, and neighborhood. Using multivariable analysis, we found that direct exposure to dromedary camels during the 2 weeks before illness onset, as well as diabetes mellitus, heart disease, and smoking, were each independently associated with MERS-CoV illness. Further investigation is needed to better understand animal-to-human transmission of MERS-CoV. KW - Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus KW - MERS-CoV KW - viruses KW - transmission KW - risk factors KW - primary infection KW - case–control study KW - dromedary camels KW - diabetes mellitus KW - heart disease KW - smoking KW - zoonosis KW - Saudi Arabia DO - 10.3201/eid2201.151340 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/22/1/15-1340_article ER - End of Reference