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The past week has seen a good deal of coverage in the Arabic press of the detectopm of the MERS coronavirus in three Qatari camels that had contact with two human infections (see Qatar, Camels, And the Coronavirus). While no evidence directly links these human infections to camel exposure, this media attention led to a press conference over the weekend by Qatari health officials, which appears to be mostly aimed at minimizing the publics fears.
While most of the points made were valid (if perhaps, overstated), the expression of hope by Dr al-Romaihi that a vaccine would be available `in the near future’ does seem a bit of an overreach.
Those with chronic health conditions are warned to avoid exposure to farm animals, while the general public is advised to maintain good hygiene after contact with camels and other animals, and is urged to only consume camel milk that has been pasteurized, and meat that has been well cooked. Follow the link to read the entire story from the Gulf Times.
Health officials allay fears over Mers outbreak
Senior health officials yesterday reassured Qatar residents that there is ‘no outbreak of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (Mers-CoV) in the country following the recent detection of two human cases and three camels infected with the virus on a local farm at Shahaniya.
“The current situation is reassuring because since the virus was first detected here in 2012, a lot of people have come in contacts with camels and other animals but no single case among those reported had had a link to animals,” Supreme Council of Health’s Communicable Diseases Control section manager Dr Mohamed al-Hajri told a press conference.
The Mers-CoV has claimed four lives in Qatar since 2012 and the virus was also suspected in a total of 4,323 persons, whose samples were checked at the Hamad Medical Corporation’s Virology laboratory, explained SCH Surveillance and Outbreak section head Dr Hamad Eid al-Romaihi.
“It was the first time in Qatar that camels were linked to Mers-CoV infections and no new cases have so far been reported because we conducted a comprehensive epidemiological investigation into potential sources of exposure of human cases involved, with the support of an international team constituted by World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO),” he said.
