--- title: Gene Sequencing Suggests Camel-Human MERS Transmission description: Scientists confirm a man who died of MERS had same virus as one of his camels canonical: https://time.com/2827822/it-looks-like-camels-actually-can-transmit-mers-to-humans/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-05T19:29:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:14:55.551Z article:section: Health og:title: Gene Sequencing Suggests Camel-Human MERS Transmission og:description: Scientists confirm a man who died of MERS had same virus as one of his camels og:url: https://time.com/2827822/it-looks-like-camels-actually-can-transmit-mers-to-humans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7821dadb0f1954c/6986966c810bbb1e33c920ca/camel-mers-saudi-arabia.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Camel MERS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gene Sequencing Suggests Camel-Human MERS Transmission twitter:description: Scientists confirm a man who died of MERS had same virus as one of his camels twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7821dadb0f1954c/6986966c810bbb1e33c920ca/camel-mers-saudi-arabia.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # It Looks Like Camels Actually Can Transmit MERS to Humans by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 5, 2014 7:29 PM UTC  An Indian worker wears a mouth and nose mask as he touches a camel at his Saudi employer's farm outside Riyadh on May 12, 2014. An Indian worker wears a mouth and nose mask as he touches a camel at his Saudi employer's farm outside Riyadh on May 12, 2014.Fayez Nureldine—AFP/Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 5, 2014 7:29 PM UTC Genetic sequencing has confirmed that a man who died of MERS in November likely got the disease from one of the camels in his herd. In Nov, 2013, a 44-year-old previously healthy Saudi Arabian man came down with MERS and eventually died. A [new study](http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1401505#.U4-iAxYgEnU.twitter=&t=articleTop) published in _The New England Journal of Medicine_ reports that scientists from King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah have shown that his virus was virtually identical to the virus found in one of his camels. The scientists report that three of the man’s friends accompanied him when he visited his camels and witnessed him put medicine in the nose of calf. Later on, it was shown that the calf had the same virus as the man, suggesting he got MERS from his camel. The man’s friends and daughter, who also had cold symptoms recovered, as did the camel. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2827822/it-looks-like-camels-actually-can-transmit-mers-to-humans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2827822/it-looks-like-camels-actually-can-transmit-mers-to-humans/"},"headline":"It Looks Like Camels Actually Can Transmit MERS to Humans","datePublished":"2014-06-05T19:29:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:14:55.551Z","description":"Scientists confirm a man who died of MERS had same virus as one of his camels","url":"https://time.com/2827822/it-looks-like-camels-actually-can-transmit-mers-to-humans/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","Saudi Arabia","MERS"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7821dadb0f1954c/6986966c810bbb1e33c920ca/camel-mers-saudi-arabia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7821dadb0f1954c/6986966c810bbb1e33c920ca/camel-mers-saudi-arabia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Camel MERS","caption":"Camel MERS","creditText":"Fayez Nureldine—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2827822/it-looks-like-camels-actually-can-transmit-mers-to-humans/","name":"It Looks Like Camels Actually Can Transmit MERS to Humans"}}]}] ```