Photo Credit NIAID
# 7024
The plot thickens a bit more this morning with a novel coronavirus update from the World Health Organization regarding another lab-confirmed NCoV infection out of Saudi Arabia.
Of particular note in this report:
- This case is apparently an (unspecified) contact of case # 15 (reported 10 days ago WHO:15th Confirmed NCoV Case)
- And that for the second time – we have evidence of a `mild’ case that has fully recovered.
The significance of that second point was highlighted last week in Eurosurveillance: H2H Transmission of NCoV In UK Family Cluster, which discussed the third member of that family cluster who only developed mild symptoms, and did not require hospitalization.
That was the first clear indication that NCoV could cause mild infection, giving rise to the following commentary from that paper:
. . . This first reported case of a milder nCoV illness raises the possibility that the spectrum of clinical disease maybe wider than initially envisaged, and that a significant proportion of cases now or in the future might be milder or even asymptomatic.
This highlights the importance of intensive contact tracing and virological and serological follow-up around all confirmed cases of nCoV. The application of recently developed serological assays in one case¬–contact study did not provide evidence of asymptomatic infection, although the contacts investigated were exposed late in the case’s illness, when the viral load might be lower [11].
Paired sera are being gathered from contacts in this current investigation to determine whether there may have been more widespread mild or asymptomatic infection.
This morning, along with publishing the GAR report (see text below), WHO also tweeted an announcement.
Credit @WHO
Novel coronavirus infection - update
23 March 2013 - The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia has informed WHO of a new confirmed case of infection with the novel coronavirus (nCoV).
The patient is a contact of the previous case reported in the Disease Outbreak News on 12 March 2012. This person suffered a mild illness, and has recovered and been discharged from hospital. Currently, there is insufficient information available to allow a conclusive assessment of the mode and source of transmission.
To date, WHO has been informed of a global total of 16 confirmed cases of human infection with nCoV, including nine deaths.
Based on the current situation and available information, WHO encourages all Member States (MS) to continue their surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and to carefully review any unusual patterns. WHO is currently working with international experts and countries where cases have been reported to assess the situation and review recommendations for surveillance and monitoring.
All MS are reminded to promptly assess and notify WHO of any new case of infection with nCoV, along with information about potential exposures that may have resulted in infection and a description of the clinical course.
WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event nor does it recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied.
WHO continues to closely monitor the situation.
Among the questions raised by this report are:
- The type of `contact’ (ie. family member, HCW, work, casual, etc.) this patient had with case #15
- How long after `contact’ symptoms developed
- Symptomology
- The mode or source of transmission
- Date this case was identified
- And the results of any other contact tracing related to these two cases
Stay tuned.
