Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging zoonotic coronavirus. First identified in 2012, MERS-CoV has caused over 2460 infections and a fatality rate of about 35% in humans. Similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), MERS-CoV likely originated from bats; however, different from SARS-CoV, which potentially utilized palm civets as its intermediate hosts, MERS-CoV likely transmits to humans through dromedary camels. Animal models, such as humanized mice and nonhuman primates, have been developed for studying MERS-CoV infection. Currently, there are no vaccines and therapeutics approved for the prevention and treatment of MERS-CoV infection, although a number of them have been developed preclinically or tested clinically. This book covers one editorial and 16 articles (including seven review articles and nine original research papers) written by researchers working in the field of MERS-CoV. It describes the following three main aspects: (1) MERS-CoV epidemiology, transmission, and pathogenesis; (2) current progress on MERS-CoV animal models, vaccines, and therapeutics; and (3) challenges and future prospects for MERS-CoV research. Overall, this book will help researchers in the MERS-CoV field to further advance their work on the virus. It also has important implications for other coronaviruses as well as viruses outside the coronavirus family with pandemic potentials.

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging zoonotic coronavirus. First identified in 2012, MERS-CoV has caused over 2460 infections and a fatality rate of about 35% in humans. Similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), MERS-CoV likely originated from bats; however, different from SARS-CoV, which potentially utilized palm civets as its intermediate hosts, MERS-CoV likely transmits to humans through dromedary camels. Animal models, such as humanized mice and nonhuman primates, have been developed for studying MERS-CoV infection. Currently, there are no vaccines and therapeutics approved for the prevention and treatment of MERS-CoV infection, although a number of them have been developed preclinically or tested clinically. This book covers one editorial and 16 articles (including seven review articles and nine original research papers) written by researchers working in the field of MERS-CoV. It describes the following three main aspects: (1) MERS-CoV epidemiology, transmission, and pathogenesis; (2) current progress on MERS-CoV animal models, vaccines, and therapeutics; and (3) challenges and future prospects for MERS-CoV research. Overall, this book will help researchers in the MERS-CoV field to further advance their work on the virus. It also has important implications for other coronaviruses as well as viruses outside the coronavirus family with pandemic potentials.

Over the last nine years, FAO, WHO and WOAH have worked with Member States, public health professionals and experts across multiple sectors and technical disciplines to improve preparedness and response capacities for MERS-CoV and other high threat zoonotic pathogens around the world. This work continues to bring together public health and animal health experts from affected and at-risk countries, scientists, and subject matter experts of high threat respiratory pathogens to review the latest scientific evidence on MERS-CoV and improve multi-sectoral collaboration. As a follow-up to previous technical meetings on MERS-CoV hosted by FAO, WHO and WOAH, a Global Technical Meeting was convened virtually on 15-16 November 2021 to share the latest findings from accelerated efforts to implement the MERS-CoV public health research agenda and research and development (R&D) road map, in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This documents presents a summary of the presentations and discussions.

Written by physicians and scientists with expertise in this evolving area, Textbook of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 provides a coherent, readable, and clinically relevant review of the biology, epidemiology, pathophysiology, immunology, clinical features, current treatment, and prevention strategies for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Using both a systemic and topic-based approach, it summarizes and clarifies the extensive literature published on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, includes a comprehensive bibliography, and provides answers to clinical questions at the point of care from multiple specialty perspectives. Includes dedicated chapters for pulmonary, cardiac, neurological, and oral manifestations of COVID-19. Covers therapeutics and novel therapeutic targets of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. Addresses the diagnostic and management challenges of COVID-19 in the emergency department. Discusses COVID-19 in special populations, including the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant mothers and to the fetus and newborn. Provides a systematic overview and comparison of vaccines that are approved and in development.

COVID-19 has brought us extensive research databases in the fields of biophysics, biology, and bioinformatics. To extract valuable structural bioinformatic information of SARS-CoV-2 structural and nonstructural proteins, it is necessary to work with large-scale datasets of molecular dynamics (MD) trajectories that need to be optimized. This monograph serves as a comprehensive guide to optimization-based MD studies of the molecular structures of SARS-CoV-2 proteins and RNA. The book begins by performing local optimization, taking into account the three-body movement and optimizing the noncovalent bonds of each molecular structure. The optimized structures reach a transition state that offers the best stability and lowest energy. The optimization process utilizes a hybrid strategy that combines mathematical optimization with various local search algorithms. This approach significantly reduces data volume while eliminating irrelevant bioinformatics data. To gain a thorough understanding of molecular stability and the mechanism of action, it is essential to consider not only static NMR, X-ray, or cryo-EM structures but also dynamic information obtained through MD or Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics (QM/MM) simulations. These simulations capture the internal motions and dynamic processes of molecules. Furthermore, for each protein, the structural bioinformatics obtained from the optimized structure is validated by analyzing large-scale MD trajectory databases, which are openly and freely available online. The analysis includes key structural bioinformatics aspects such as salt bridge electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonds, van der Waals interactions, and hydrophobic interactions specific to each SARS-CoV-2 molecular structure. The book also delves into discussions on drugs, vaccines, and the origins of the virus. Additionally, pandemic mathematical models, including those incorporating time delays, are explored. This book is particularly valuable for professionals working in practical computing roles within computational biochemistry, computational biophysics, optimization and molecular dynamics, structural bioinformatics, biological mathematics, and related fields. It serves as an accessible introduction to these disciplines and is also an excellent teaching resource for students.