Photo Credit WHO
# 7895
The World Health Organization has released a MERS Coronavirus update, which add 5 cases from Saudi Arabia since the last Saudi update (see WHO MERS-CoV Update – October 14th). Two of those cases are relatively recent, while three hail from back in September.
Patient details provided by the Saudi MOH remain frustratingly limited and vague, which makes it increasingly difficult to maintain independent line lists of cases. These gaps in the data are particularly apparent when you compare this release update to the level of detail offered in last week’s WHO update on the recent Qatari case (see WHO MERS-CoV Update – Qatar). .
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) - update
Disease outbreak news
24 October 2013 - WHO has been informed of two laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in Saudi Arabia on 18 and 19 October 2013, and three laboratory-confirmed cases in 18 September 2013.
Of the five laboratory-confirmed cases, two died. The ages of the five patients range from 35 to 83 years old; four men and one woman; two from Medinah and three Riyadh. Four patients had underlying medical conditions. Two patients reported having no contact with a laboratory-confirmed case or with animals prior to becoming ill.
Globally, from September 2012 to date, WHO has been informed of a total of 144 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 62 deaths.
