 | |||||
| Credit WHO |
# 11,144
The World Health Organization has published a new update on MERS in Saudi Arabia, with details on 25 cases, 12 of which are part of the ongoing Buraidah hospital cluster.
Additionally, 6 other cases have a history of camel exposure, 5 are primary cases without a known exposure risk, and 2 are contacts of previously identified MERS cases.
Due to the length of this update I've elected not to post the case details, but you can read them at the WHO GAR website.
Between 26 February and 08 March 2016 the National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notified WHO of 25 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection (MERS-CoV), including 4 fatal cases.
(SNIP Case Details)
Contact tracing of household and healthcare contacts is ongoing for these cases.
The National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also notified WHO of the death of 2 MERS-CoV cases that were reported in previous DONs on 10 March (case no. 2 and 6).
Globally, since September 2012, WHO has been notified of 1,677 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including at least 597 related deaths.
WHO risk assessment
MERS-CoV causes severe human infections resulting in high mortality and has demonstrated the ability to transmit between humans. So far, the observed human-to-human transmission has occurred mainly in health care settings.
The notification of additional cases does not change the overall risk assessment. WHO expects that additional cases of MERS-CoV infection will be reported from the Middle East, and that cases will continue to be exported to other countries by individuals who might acquire the infection after exposure to animals or animal products (for example, following contact with dromedaries) or human source (for example, in a health care setting). WHO continues to monitor the epidemiological situation and conducts risk assessment based on the latest available information.
