#13,980
Six days ago in Epi Week 13 the Saudis announced a single, primary (with camel contact) MERS case (M,75) in Al Khafji, very near the Saudi border with Kuwait.
Today the Saudis announce a cluster of 3 secondary cases in Al Khafji - presumably contacts of the first case - although the new (less detailed) format of the daily report doesn't tell us under what circumstance.The three new cases are all middle-aged males (ages: 49, 59 & 56) and are listed with `unknown' camel contact. These could be household contacts, nosocomial infections, or perhaps from some other venue.
While we've not seen anything suggesting sustained or efficient transmission of the MERS virus, in the first quarter of 2019 has been punctuated by a number of clusters - including a major multi-focal outbreak in Wadi Aldwasir - and in this 1st week of April are only 18 cases shy of matching 2018's yearly total.
With the holy month of Ramadan now just over a month away (May 5th - Jun 4th)
- which brings with it a surge in international religious pilgrims to Saudi Arabia
second only to the Hajj - public health officials around the world would love to see an early end to this spring surge in MERS cases.
