Figure 1. Laboratory confirmed cases of MERS‐CoV infection by approximate time of onset, March 2012 through March 2014.
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The World Health Organization released a 5-page PDF summary and literature update on the MERS coronavirus today, which seeks to characterize the first 206 reported human cases originating on the Arabian Peninsula.
I’ve only excerpted a small portion, follow the link to read it in its entirety.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS‐CoV)
Summary and literature update – as of 27 March 2014
Since April 2012, 206 laboratory confirmed cases of human infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS‐CoV) have been reported to WHO, including 86 deaths (Figure 1).
The age and gender distribution of cases vary depending on the presumed type of exposure that led to infection. Primary cases, those who have no history of prior exposure to other human cases, are on average older and a larger percentage of them are men than secondary cases (Table 1). Secondary cases are those who appear likely to have been infected by other humans.Thus far, the affected countries in the Middle East include Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), all of which appear to have had primary transmission events from non‐human sources. Other affected countries include France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom (UK), in Europe and Tunisia, in North Africa. In these countries, cases have been imported from the Middle East with some secondary transmission (Figure 2). All primary cases have had their exposure to MERS‐CoV in the Middle East.
Since the last update of 20 January 2014, 28 laboratory‐confirmed cases, including 10 deaths, have been reported to WHO. Countries in which the presumed exposure of these cases occurred are shown in Table 2 below.
It is notable that the cases from Jordan, Kuwait, and one of the cases from UAE appear to have acquired infection in a healthcare setting. Among the 22 cases reported from Saudi Arabia, 19 were in Riyadh, and one appears to have acquired his infection in a health care setting. Among the four cases that acquired infection in a health care setting, three appear to have had exposure to an unidentified primary case.
Additionally, four of the cases from Riyadh were members of the same household: the index case, a 19‐year‐old male, died as a result of infection with MERS‐CoV, and three presumed secondary cases — a 53‐year‐old male, an 18‐year‐old female and a 22‐year‐old female—exhibited mild or no symptoms.
