Coronavirus – Credit CDC PHIL
# 7809
Murmurs of impatience in the scientific community over the slow progress in the MERS-CoV investigations in Saudi Arabia have grown louder in recent weeks, as we’ve reached the 1-year anniversary of this virus’s discovery. One year after SARS emerged in 2003, not only had the virus been contained, we knew a great deal more about it than we do today about MERS-CoV.
Last week, in Branswell On MERS-CoV At The One Year Mark we saw reactions from CIDRAP Director Michael Osterholm, Dr. Larry Anderson who led the CDC’s SARS research a decade ago, Dr. Mark Pallansch of the CDS’s MERS task force, Dr. Tony Mounts of the World Health Organization, and others.
Overnight some of you may have noticed a well publicized Wall Street Journal piece by Ellen Knickmeyer and Betsy Mckay on concerns regarding Saudi Arabia’s attempts to contain MERS, only to find the story was behind a pay wall. I’m happy to report that this morning, that article has been `unlocked’ as a `public health issue’, and is now available to all.
Follow the link to read:
Saudi Efforts to Stop MERS Virus Faulted
Experts Still Don't Know How People Are Exposed to Mysterious Disease
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER in Hafr al Batin, Saudi Arabia, and BETSY MCKAY in Atlanta
More than a year after the emergence of a new virus that has killed dozens of people, mainly in Saudi Arabia, international health officials say they are concerned that Saudi officials may not be conducting—or aren't providing findings from—some critical investigative work that could help answer basic questions about the mysterious disease.
At the same time, relatives of some Saudi victims are demanding that their government do more to warn the public about the potential danger.
With the Hajj now just three weeks away, and millions of religious pilgrims making their journey to the holy sites in Saudi Arabia, concerns over the spread of this emerging virus out of the middle east this fall are rising.
Despite reassurances from Saudi officials (see Middle East Online Hajj pilgrimage without MERS outbreaks: Saudi Arabia remains optimistic), many public health officials remain wary. Mass gathering events are an ideal environment for the spread of infectious illnesses, and international air flights are an extremely efficient way to disseminate them rapidly around the globe.
Today, the World Health Organization will hold their third meeting of the IHR Emergency Committee on MERS-CoV, and later today we should get some details on their findings, via a press conference by Assistant Director-General Dr Keiji Fukuda.
I hope to have an update on the IHR committee meeting later today.
