KENYA-HEALTH-VIRUS-ENVIRONMENT-RESEARCH

Nelson Kipchirchir (R), a research associate and resident vet, draws blood from an artery in the neck of a female camel as she is held down by resident livestock handlers, at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) ranch, where the camels are regularly tested for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus as scientists monitor for indications of possible transition of the microbes from animal to humans, at the Kapiti plains ranch, located in Machakos County, on March 24, 2021. - ILRI began researching camels in Kenya in 2013, a year after the appearance of MERS in Saudi Arabia, a coronavirus which kills an estimated 35 percent of those it infects, with some 850 deaths recorded, according to the World Health Organisation. MERS is a zoonotic virus, believed to have transmitted from bats to camels, which causes similar symptoms to Covid-19 in humans: fever, coughing and respiratory difficulties. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA / AFP) (Photo by TONY KARUMBA/AFP via Getty Images)