Latest case count from the Saudi MOH
# 7362
The World Health Organization has released an update that provides some information on a recent Saudi MERS-CoV case – that of a 14 year-old girl in the Eastern region (but not part of the Al Ahsa cluster) who fell ill on May 29th.
Yesterday’s announcement from the Saudi MOH concerned an 83 y.o. male from Al-Asha (see MOH: "A New Case of Novel Coronavirus Recorded in Al-Ahsa Governorate") and so I must assume the WHO update refers to the case reported (with zero details) on June 2nd.
This morning the @WHO also tweeted the following carefully worded statement about the 8 MERS contacts that tested positive – then tested negative in Italy (see Italy: Media Now Report 8 Contacts Negative For MERS-CoV).
This from the WHO Global Alert & Response page.
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) - update
5 June 2013 - The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia has notified WHO of an additional laboratory-confirmed case with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
The patient is a 14-year-old girl with underlying medical conditions who became ill on 29 May 2013. She is reported from the Eastern region, but not from Al-Ahsa where an outbreak began in a health care facility since April 2013. The patient is in stable condition.
Globally, from September 2012 to date, WHO has been informed of a total of 54 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 30 deaths.
WHO has received reports of laboratory-confirmed cases originating in the following countries in the Middle East to date: Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). France, Germany, Italy, Tunisia and the United Kingdom also reported laboratory-confirmed cases; they were either transferred there for care of the disease or returned from the Middle East and subsequently became ill. In France, Italy, Tunisia and the United Kingdom, there has been limited local transmission among patients who had not been to the Middle East but had been in close contact with the laboratory-confirmed or probable cases.
Based on the current situation and available information, WHO encourages all Member States to continue their surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and to carefully review any unusual patterns.
