Credit CDC PHIL
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The World Health Organization has posted details on five previously announced MERS cases; 2 from Oman, and 3 from Saudi Arabia. While Saudi Arabia has been reporting sporadic cases since August (after a lull of a couple of months), these are the first cases from Oman in a year.
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – Oman
Disease outbreak news
16 January 2015Between 7 and 10 January 2015, the National IHR Focal Point of Oman notified WHO of 2 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including 1 death.
Details of the case are as follows:
- A 32-year-old male from Dakhelyia Region who developed symptoms on 27 December and was admitted to hospital on 5 January. The patient had comorbidities. He owned a farm and had frequent contact with camels, goats and sheep. The patient had no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. He was admitted to ICU but passed away on 7 January.
- A 31-year-old female from Dakhelyia Region who developed symptoms on 8 January and was admitted to hospital on 9 January. The patient has no comorbidities. She is a household contact of the MERS-CoV case reported above. The household owns camels but she had no direct contact with them. The patient is in stable condition and remains in isolation.
Contact tracing of household contacts and healthcare contacts is ongoing for these cases.
Globally, WHO has been notified of 950 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including at least 350 related deaths.
The latest case in the following update was reported on January 5th. Since that time we’ve seen an additional 6 cases reported out of Saudi Arabia.
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – Saudi Arabia
Disease outbreak news
15 January 2015Between 3 and 5 January 2015, the National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) notified WHO of 3 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection.
Details of the cases are as follows:
- A 69-year-old male from Najran city who developed symptoms on 23 December and was admitted to hospital on 2 January. The patient has comorbidities. Although his neighbours rear camels, the patient has neither a history of direct contact with them nor of consuming raw camel products. In the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms, he travelled to Yemen. He has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days that preceded the onset of symptoms. Currently, the patient is in stable condition and remains in an isolation ward.
- A 76-year-old male from Taif city who developed symptoms on 26 December and was admitted to hospital on 31 December. The patient has comorbidities as well as a history of frequent contact with camels and raw camel milk consumption. He has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, the patient is in ICU and remains in critical condition.
- A 45-year-old male from Dammam city who developed symptoms on 31 December and was admitted to hospital on 1 January 2015. The patient has no comorbidities. Although he frequently visits his friends’ camel farm, the patient has no history of direct contact with camels. The patient has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, he is in stable condition and remains in isolation.
Cases are listed by date of reporting, with the most recent case listed first.
Last year we saw the number of MERS cases jump sharply in April & May (see chart below), exacerbated – in part – by lapses in infection control procedures at Saudi Health Care Facilities. The Ministry of Health appears to be taking a harder line on infection control protocols this year (see Saudi MOH Closes Riyadh Dialysis Center Over MERS Concerns).
Credit BCCDC
We should know in a few months is they were successful.
