Credit KSA MOH Coronavirus Website
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As often happens with infectious disease outbreaks around the world, we are getting two decidedly different takes on the spread of the novel coronavirus in Saudi Arabia.
The `official version’, as provided by the KSA Ministry of Health, tends to be heavy on reassurance and light on epidemiological details. Case counts are released piecemeal in what I’ve begun to think of as their weekly `Dance of the 7 unveils’.
Meanwhile, the Arabic press continues to run confused, slightly panicked, and (thus far) unsubstantiated reports of `more suspected cases’, that quite easily could represent anything from the common cold to nCoV.
The vagaries of syntax-mangled machine translations add another dimension of uncertainty to these media reports. While one can often get the gist of a computer translated story, details and nuances are often lost, making them dangerous to rely on too heavily.
It seems likely that the truth lies somewhere in between these two extremes, but exactly where remains a mystery.
The good news is, while some limited human-to-human transmission among close contacts appears to have occurred, we’ve yet to see signs that this virus can transmit in a sustained or efficient manner in the community.
While we may not be confident we are getting the full picture out of Saudi Arabia, watching the public health response from their neighbors can provide clues as to how they perceive the situation.
So this morning, three reports; a 2 minute video from Al Jazeera, a report from the Arab Times on how Kuwait is responding, and an announcement from Oman’s Ministry of Information.
From Kuwait, a long report that pulls together remarks by Dr. Ali Mohamed Zaki – the Egyptian virologist who discovered the first Saudi case last year – and WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl, plus recommendations for isolation (10 days) of suspected cases and steps doctors need to follow to ship samples to labs.
Follow the link to read it in its entirety.
Strict ‘guidelines’ on viruses issued
Updated on: 15/05/2013
KUWAIT CITY, May 14, (Agencies): Kuwait’s Ministry of Health made an administrative decision announcing strict guidelines on how to handle acute respiratory cases, particularly the novel coronavirus (nCoV), which it described as “a dangerous communicable disease.”
The decision urged doctors in the public and private sectors to inform their closest disease control and prevention centre of suspicions regarding cases of acute respiratory illnesses such as the novel coronavirus, in order to prevent the spread of such cases.
Medical staff in emergency and critical condition departments, who may have had contact with those infected, have also been told to receive a check-up at the local disease control centre.
It ran through the steps doctors needed to abide by when handling such cases such as dispatching samples in a sealed and refrigerated container accompanied by a report to various laboratories across the country, while paying close attention to the isolation of suspected cases and carrying out regular assessments of their condition, the guidelines showed.
If a suspected case were to be referred to the disease control centre, interaction should be prohibited over a 10-day period.
And last stop, Oman’s ministry of Information.
The Ministry of Health yesterday discussed the latest developments in Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) caused by coronavirus, which was newly discovered in neighbouring countries. A follow-up meeting on the issue was held under the chairmanship of Dr Mohamed bin Saif al Hosni, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Health for Health Affairs.
Al Hosni explained that no vaccine or vaccination against the disease has been discovered and no specific treatment so far. He stressed the need to abide by hygiene norms, such as hand washing and infection control, as well as covering one’s mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing and proper disposing of used tissues, while at the same time staying away from crowded places as possible.
Besides a contingency plan, the meeting reviewed the situation of the disease in the world and epidemiological surveillance systems of acute respiratory infections in the Sultanate, in addition to epidemiological preparedness and response plan at the centre and governorates level as laboratory reagents are available for the diagnosis of this disease in the Sultanate. Discussion also covered the preparedness of technical personnel for testing and looking after cases as and when they arise.
The Ministry was in touch with authorities in the neighbouring countries and with relevant international organisations. The meeting was attended by experts in this field at the central level and the level of hospitals and governorates.
Assuming the Saudi’s are able to bring this current outbreak under control, the experience of the past 12 months shows that the novel coronavirus is capable of repeatedly spilling over into the human population
Which makes determining the reservoir host (or hosts) – and finding a way to reduce the risk of the virus jumping to humans – a high priority.
Otherwise we are apt to be dealing with sporadic outbreaks of this virus for some time to come
