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The World Health Organization has posted a GAR (Global Alert & Response) update on last week’s announced MERS-positive serology test on an Illinois contact of the the imported Indiana case (see CDC: Contact Of Indiana MERS Case Tests Positive For The Virus).
While not meeting the current WHO definition of a `confirmed case’, this seropositive test result is still considered a strong indicator of a probable recent infection with the MERS coronavirus.
Earlier this week Dr. Ian Mackay made a strong case for the use of serological testing in identifying cases (see MERS-CoV detections: The April wave recedes...). This case is considered important since this person had fairly limited (40 minutes) face-to-face contact with a confirmed case.
Meanwhile, the global case count has now risen to 632 cases, and while Saudi case numbers are included in this tally, no details on Saudi cases have been published by the WHO since April 14th. The WHO states that they continue to work with Saudi Arabia on getting additional information on these cases, and will provide further updates as soon as possible.
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – update
Disease Outbreak News
22 May 2014 - On 2 May 2014, the National IHR Focal Point for the United States notified WHO about the first laboratory confirmed case of MERS-CoV infection in the United States.
As part of the investigation of contacts of the first confirmed case, testing for MERS-CoV was undertaken on contacts. A contact of the first case initially tested negative for MERS-CoV by PCR based on respiratory tract samples taken 10 days after contact with the first case. However, on 16 May, this contact tested positive for antibodies for MERS-CoV in a blood sample taken 14 days after contact. Currently, this individual is asymptomatic. He is a male in his 70s with comorbidities and has no history of travel to countries outside the United States.
The antibody test result suggests this individual may have been infected with MERS-CoV; however he does not meet WHO's current definition of a laboratory confirmed case of MERS-CoV, which requires positive PCR tests.
Globally, 632 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV have officially been reported to WHO, including 193 deaths. The global total includes all of the case reported in this update, plus 17 laboratory confirmed cases officially reported to WHO from Saudi Arabia between 16 and 18 May. WHO is working with Saudi Arabia for additional information on these cases and will provide further updates as soon as possible.
