WHO MERS Update – Nov 7th

 

 

# 9296

 

The World Health Organization has posted an update on an additional 12 MERS cases reported out of Saudi Arabia between October 27th and October 30th.

 

As was the case in the last update (see WHO Update On MERS: Saudi Arabia – Nov 3rd), contact with camels seems to have have been less of a factor than we’ve seen in early reports.

 

Nosocomial transmission – including to healthcare workers – continues to feature prominently in these reports, which has prompted several recent statements from the Saudi MOH including yesterday’s  Saudi MOH On Recent MERS Cases In Riyadh.

 

 

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – Saudi Arabia

Disease outbreak news
7 November 2014

Between 27 and 30 October 2014, the National IHR Focal Point of Saudi Arabia (KSA) notified WHO of 12 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including 3 deaths.

Details of the cases are as follows:

The cases are from Riyadh (5), Taif (4), Hafr Albatin (1), Jouf (1) and Makkah (1). The median age of the patients is 56 years old (ranging from 30 to 90 years old). Eight cases (67%) are men and 8 (67%) are Saudi nationals. Eleven cases (92%) suffer from 1 or more comorbidities. In the 14 days that preceded the onset of symptoms, none of the cases performed Umrah/Hajj nor travelled out of their cities of residence. Only 1 case (8%) has a history of contact with animals and of raw camel products consumption. Seven cases (67%) – 2 of which were healthcare professionals – came in contact with MERS-CoV patients. Two cases (17%) – including 1 healthcare worker – spent time at hospitals with ongoing MERS-CoV outbreaks, although they had no contact with infected patients.

Tracing of household contacts and healthcare contacts is ongoing for these cases.

The National IHR Focal Point of Saudi Arabia also notified WHO of the death of 3 MERS-CoV cases that were reported between 7 and 24 October 2014.

Globally, WHO has been notified of 909 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including at least 331 related deaths.