@WHO Twitter MERS Announcements 10/15/13
#7981
The World Health Organization has emailed out a DON (Disease Outbreak News) report on two recently reported MERS cases; one from the UAE - first reported over a week ago (see Emirates 24/7: Omani Diagnosed With MERS-CoV in Abu Dhabi) - and the other from Qatar, which was reported just yesterday (see A Little More On Qatar’s Latest MERS-CoV Case).
Thus far, we’ve not seen any WHO confirmation of the two cases reported in Kuwait over the past 48 hours.
The statement hasn’t gone live on the GAR (Global Alert & Response) website, but the pertinent text is below. I’ll update this blog with a direct link when one becomes available. Link now available below.
WHO Disease Outbreak News: Middle East respiratory syndrome in UAE and Qatar
15 November 2013 - WHO has been informed of an additional two laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). These include one laboratory-confirmed case from the United Arab Emirates and one laboratory-confirmed case in Qatar.
The patient reported from the United Arab Emirates is a national of Oman. He is 75 years old, with underlying medical conditions. He became ill on 1 October 2013, was hospitalized on 12 October 2013 and died on 10 November 2013.
The patient from Qatar is a 61-year-old man with underlying medical conditions. He became ill on 4 November 2013, and was hospitalised on 7 November 2013. He is in critical condition. Preliminary epidemiological investigation indicates that the patient had exposure to farms where livestock are kept.
Additionally, a previously laboratory-confirmed case from Oman has died.
Globally, from September 2012 to date, WHO has been informed of a total of 155 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 66 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.
