IntroductionOne of the families of ssRNA viruses that causes upper respiratory diseases in humans and birds is the family Coronaviridae. Although coronaviruses have been known since the early 1960s (229 and OC43 viruses), they only began to attract attention in 2003, when a virus causing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was discovered. was discovered during an outbreak in southern China and subsequently spread. in several countries.1 Ten years after this event, responsible for 774 deaths in more than 30 countries (out of 8,000 confirmed cases), a new “SARS-like” infection appeared in the Middle East and was named respiratory syndrome coronavirus of the Middle East. (MERS-CoV) by the Coronavirus Study Group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Samples taken from two patients with severe cases of community-acquired pneumonia (Bisha, Saudi Arabia and Doha, Qatar) contributed to the first isolation of the new virus and its sequencing.2 The new virus was repeatedly isolated from residents and tourists from the country. Arabian Peninsula showing symptoms that resembled those of the first documented victims of the disease. In retrospect, a cluster of respiratory infections occurring earlier in Jordan (April 2012) was linked to this viral agent.3 Analysis of the MERS-CoV genome classified the emerging virus as a member of lineage C of the Betacoronavirus genus. Interestingly, its closest known relatives are present in bats (HkU-4 and HkU-5). On the other hand, it is more distant from SARS-CoV, not only genetically, but also in terms of the use of the virus's receptors.3Structure and composition of the virionAll coronaviruses have four structural proteins in common (Figure 1): a large surface glycoprotein (S; 11:50 a.m.–2:50 p.m.... middle of article......Lancet Infect. 9, 291–300 (2009). 10. WHO | Summary updates of MERS-CoV at 11. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome - MERS-CoV at12 Zhou, N., Zhang, Y., Zhang, J.-C., Feng, L. and Bao, J.-K. The MERS-CoV receptor binding domain: The dawn of vaccine and therapeutic development. J. Formos Assoc. 113, 143-147 (2014).13. Swerdlow, DL and Gerber, SI. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus. Emerg. Dis. 20, 1054-1056 (2014). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2004).