Study: MERS virus infecting camels since 1992

LONDON (AP) — Scientists say the mysterious MERS virus has been infecting camels in Saudi Arabia for at least two decades, and early human cases probably went undiagnosed.

Since the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus was first identified in 2012, doctors have struggled to explain how many patients have fallen sick. MERS can cause symptoms including fever, breathing problems and kidney failure. To date, it has infected more than 180 people and killed 79, mostly in the Middle East, though infections have also spread to Europe and northern Africa.