Why are Saudis Kissing their Camels? · Global Voices
Rami Alhames

Even the deadly Coronavirus will not stop Saudis from being close to their favourite pet animals – the camels.
On Twitter and YouTube, Saudis continue to post photographs and videos of themselves kissing camels as a kind of unorganized campaign against the government's warning that the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) risk could be from camels, as cases continue to rise in the kingdom. Tweets are posted under the hashtag (#كورونا_و_الابل) which means “Corona and Camels,” featuring Saudis expressing their passion for the desert animal.
Although health experts say camels are the most likely animal source of the infection for the disease, there is no vaccine or anti-viral treatment against it.
Here are some photographs shared by Twitter users, who declare that no disease will stand between them and their camels.
@aaaa12200 shares this photograph:
Saudis kiss their camels in defiance of a warning that the source of a deadly disease Coronavirus could be from camels. Photograph shared on Twitter by @aaaa12200
And Fahad bin Abdulla declares he will spend the rest of the day with his camel:
Twitter user Fahad bin Abdulla shares this photograph of himself with his camel. Source: @AlHaqbani
Others even went further for a double dose of care in defiance to the relationship between camels and the coronavirus. The following video shows an owner kissing two camels while asking them cough on his face to show that he is not afraid of getting infected from them: