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| Original Map Credit Wikipedia |
#13,839
Over the past 4 days (Epi Week 6) the Saudi MOH has announced 11 new MERS cases, 9 of which have occurred in Wadi Aldwasir, and are part of a larger outbreak (n=12) that was first reported on January 29th.
Today's report includes two secondary cases in Wadi Aldwasir and a third primary, community acquired case in Khamis Mushait City in south-west Saudi Arabia (see below).
In addition to two other patients described as having recent camel contact - the MOH has reported 3 different clusters of cases in Wadi Aldwasir.
- 4 cases have been listed as secondary, household contacts
- 2 cases have been listed as secondary, community-acquired
- 4 cases have been listed as secondary, healthcare-acquired.
A reminder that while recent camel contact is generally assumed to have been the source of a patient's MERS infection, it can sometimes be an incidental exposure.In the first 36 days of 2019, Saudi Arabia has reported 27 MERS cases, which is more than was reported during the last 3 months of 2018 (n=21).
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| Credit WHO EMRO |
While a noticeable uptick, we are still far below the numbers we were seeing in 2014 and 2015, and community transmission of the virus remains limited.
Any increase, however, is worthy of our attention, not only for its local impact - but because it heightens the chances of seeing the virus exported to other regions of the world by international travelers.For some recent blogs on gaps in our knowledge and concerns over the under-detected MERS infections in the community, you may wish to revisit:
MERS-CoV In Humans: A Systematic Literature Review
J. Korean Med Sci: Atypical Presentation Of A MERS Case In A Returning Traveler From Kuwait
mBio: High Prevalence of MERS-CoV Infection in Camel Workers in Saudi Arabia
AJIC:Intermittent Positive Testing For MERS-CoV
JIDC: Atypical Presentation Of MERS-CoV In A Lebanese Patient
A Pandemic Risk Assessment Of MERS-CoV In Saudi Arabia
