The role of superspreading in Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) transmission.
Euro Surveill. 2015 Jun 25; 20(25):14-8.ES

Abstract

As at 15 June 2015, a large transmission cluster of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERSCoV)was ongoing in South Korea. To examine the potential for such events, we estimated the level of heterogeneity in MERS-CoV transmission by analyzing data on cluster size distributions. We found substantial potential for superspreading; even though it is likely that R0 < 1 overall, our analysis indicates that cluster sizes of over 150 cases are not unexpected forMERS-CoV infection.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Kucharski AJ

Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.

Althaus CL

No affiliation info available

MeSH

Cluster AnalysisCoronavirusCoronavirus InfectionsDisease OutbreaksHumansMiddle East Respiratory Syndrome CoronavirusRepublic of KoreaSevere Acute Respiratory Syndrome

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Language

eng

PubMed ID

26132768