The patient and three of his friends
had been visiting the camels daily until 3 days before his admission. The patient’s
friends reported that four of the animals (Camels B, F, G, and I) had been ill with
nasal discharge during the week before the onset of the patient’s illness (Table 1).
As reported by his friends, the patient had applied a topical medicine in the nose of
one of the ill camels (Camel B) 7 days before the patient’s onset of illness. None of
the patient’s friends had had direct contact with the camels’ secretions or mucous
membranes. They all remained well during the 60 days that followed the onset of
illness in the patient.