# 10,160
We've been following a sizable cluster of MERS cases emerging from the city of Hofuf (aka `Hafuf', `hafoof', etc.) for almost 7 weeks. The first case - reported on April 20th - involved a case with camel contact (see here).
A second case – described as `a contact’ of the first was reported on May 5th. Two days later 4 more cases described as `household contacts of a confirmed case’ were reported.
Since then we've seen a steady procession of cases - most listed as `contacts' of a previously identified case. In recent days we've seen WHO updates indicating that many of these were either healthcare workers (HCWs), or patients staying in same hospital where MERS cases were being treated (see June 4th's WHO MERS Update - Saudi Arabia ).
Today's update differs in that two of the five cases listed (#1 & #3) appear to be community acquired cases, with no stated links to previously identified cases, while #4 is an HCW with no known risk exposures.
Case #2 is an HCW who provided care to a lab-confirmed MERS case, while #5 was hospitalized for an unrelated illness and developed symptoms 11 days later.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – Saudi Arabia
Disease outbreak news 6 June 2015
Between 1 and 4 June 2015, the National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notified WHO of 5 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including 1 death.
Details of the cases are as follows:
- A 64-year-old male from Hofuf city developed symptoms on 20 May and was admitted to hospital on 1 June. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 3 June. Currently, he is in stable condition in a negative pressure isolation room on a ward. Investigation of history of exposure to known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms is ongoing.
- A 50-year-old, non-national, male health professional from Hofuf city developed symptoms on 22 May. The patient, who has no comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 1 June. Between 14 and 19 May, he provided care to a laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV case that was reported in a previous DON on 25 May (case n. 2). The patient has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, he is asymptomatic and isolated at home.
- A 45-year-old male from Hofuf city developed symptoms on 26 May and was admitted to hospital on 29 May. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 31 May. Currently, he is in critical condition in ICU. Investigation of history of exposure to the known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms is ongoing.
- A 50-year-old, male health professional from Hofuf city developed symptoms on 19 May and was admitted to hospital on 25 May. The patient, who has no comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 29 May. He has a history of contact with sheep and poultry in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. The patient has no history of exposure to known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, he is in stable condition in a negative pressure isolation room on a ward.
Contact tracing of household and healthcare contacts is ongoing for these cases.
- A 54-year-old male from Hofuf city developed symptoms on 27 May. The patient was admitted to hospital for an unrelated medical condition on May 16. He was referred to another hospital on May 19. The patient, who had comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 30 May. He passed away on 2 June. Investigation of history of exposure to known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms is ongoing.
The National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also notified WHO of the death of 3 previously reported MERS-CoV cases. The cases were reported in previous DONs on 4 June (case n. 1, 7) and on 17 May (case n. 5).
Globally, since September 2012, WHO has been notified of 1195 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including at least 448 related deaths.
