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| Credit ECDC MERS-CoV RRA #22 |
UPDATED: 12:30pm EST
South Korean media is now reporting this case - involving a 73 y.o. - has tested negative for MERS-CoV.
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With the dual caveats that the outward symptoms of MERS are similar to many other, far less worrisome viral infections - and that suspect cases are ruled out everyday around the world - South Korean media this morning are reporting on the quarantine and testing of a suspected MERS case recently returned from Dubai.
This comes less than three months after the UK saw an imported case ex Saudi Arabia, which was followed a couple of weeks later by a MERS positive case in South Korea, who recently arrived from Kuwait.South Korea, more than any other country outside of the Middle East, knows what it is like to to deal with a major MERS outbreak. In 2015, a single infected traveler sparked an epidemic which eventually infected 185 people across 16 hospitals, and claimed 38 lives (see Superspreaders & The Korean MERS Epidemiological Report).
Initial test results on this patient should be available later today. Should it prove negative, a second confirmatory test would likely be needed before the all-clear is given (see AJIC: Intermittent Positive Testing For MERS-CoV).
S. Korean shows symptoms consistent with MERS after trip to Dubai
2018/11/03 18:08
CHUNCHEON, South Korea, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean person is currently in quarantine after showing symptoms associated with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) following a recent trip to Dubai, health authorities said Saturday.
Earlier in the day, the septuagenarian, whose identity is being withheld, visited a general hospital in Chuncheon, some 85 kilometers east of Seoul, due to fever, according to Kangwon National University Hospital and health authorities.
(Continue . . . )
To date, 27 countries have reported MERS cases, including 16 countries outside of the Middle East (see ECDC chart below).
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| Credit ECDC RRA |
A 2015 Eurosurveillance report, however (see Estimating The Odds Of Secondary/ Tertiary Cases From An Imported MERS Case) suggested the odds of seeing at least one secondary case derived from an imported case is 22.7% , while the odds of seeing at least one tertiary case is 10.5%.
Based on their calculations, the odds of seeing at least 8 cases as the result of a single importation was estimated at a non-trivial 10.9%.While the risks of contracting MERS for anyone visiting the Middle East are exceptionally low, many countries - including the UK - have issued Advice To Travelers Returning From The Middle East.
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The PHE blog Public Health Matters has more information in Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS): Who is at risk?
