Photo Credit – WHO
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My thanks to Gregory Hartl – spokesperson for the World Health Organization – for tweeting the link to the latest update on the MERS Coronavirus. Today’s report catches up with four recently reported cases, one from Oman, and three from Saudi Arabia.
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) - update
Disease outbreak news
31 October 2013 - WHO has been informed of an additional four laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). These include the first laboratory-confirmed case from Oman and three additional laboratory-confirmed cases from Saudi Arabia.
The patient in Oman is a 68-year-old man from Al Dahkliya region who became ill on 26 October 2013 and was hospitalized on 28 October 2013. Preliminary epidemiological investigations revealed that he did not recently travel outside the country. However, investigations are currently ongoing to determine what exposures might be responsible for his infection
Of the three patients including one death reported from the Eastern Region in Saudi Arabia, one is a woman and two are men. The three patients, one of whom is a health care worker, had underlying medical conditions. Their ages range from 49 to 83 years old. All three patients reported having no contact with animals prior to their illness, while one patient was reported to have been in contact with a previously laboratory-confirmed case.
Globally, from September 2012 to date, WHO has been informed of a total of 149 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 63 deaths.
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.
