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Tomorrow the World Health Organization will convene an Emergency committee meeting of International experts to discuss and review MERS-CoV, and to decide if this emerging virus constitutes a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" (PHEIC).
Last Thursday Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Security and the Environment at the World Health Organization, held a press conference announcing this meeting Audio Link.
Late yesterday the WHO released their latest update on the MERS coronavirus which includes some details on a case the Saudi’s announced on Saturday (see More On KSA’s 65th MERS-CoV Case).
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) - update
7 July 2013 - The Ministry of Health (MoH) in Saudi Arabia has announced one additional laboratory-confirmed case and two deaths in previously confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in Saudi Arabia.
The new case is a 56 year-old female from Hafr Al- Batin city, North-eastern region. She is a health care worker with contact of a previously reported laboratory confirmed MERS-CoV case who subsequently recovered and was discharged.
In addition, the two deaths in previously confirmed cases are a 53 year-old citizen from the Eastern Region and a two year-old male from Jeddah.
Globally, from September 2012 to date, WHO has been informed of a total of 80 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 44 deaths.
While the majority of patients with this infection have been described as being older or elderly males with co-morbidities – we continue to see a significant number of healthcare workers affected as well.
In addition to the 80 confirmed cases, there are roughly a dozen `probable or suspected cases’, including a number of HCWs from Jordan’s 2012 hospital cluster.
With recent detection of several asymptomatic cases in Saudi Arabia, concerns over this virus’s ability to spread undetected have risen. As of now, the source of the virus remains unknown (although bats are suspected), as is exactly how it is jumping from its animal reservoir to humans.
Complicating matters, today (July 8th) marks the beginning of Ramadan, and over the next month more than a million religious pilgrims are expected to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
To date, the World Health Organization has not issued any travel warnings to the Middle East regarding this virus, and the CDC’s travel advice is based on Watch - Level 1, Practice Usual Precautions.
The WHO’s Advice to travelers (Dated June 5th):
(EXCERPT)
Although the source of the virus and the mechanism of transmission is unknown, it would be prudent to try to reduce the general risk of infection while travelling by:
- Avoiding close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections.
- Frequent hand-washing, especially after direct contact with ill people or their environment.
- Adhering to food safety and hygiene rules such as avoiding undercooked meats, raw fruits and vegetables unless they have been peeled, or unsafe water.
- Avoiding close contact with live farm or wild animals.
Travellers to the Middle East who develop symptoms either during travel or after their return are encouraged to seek medical attention and to share their history of travel. People with symptoms of acute respiratory infection should practice cough etiquette (maintain distance, cover coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing, and wash hands) and to delay travel until they are no longer symptomatic.
Based on the information available, WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event nor does it currently recommend the application of any travel or trade restrictions.
