Sunday, May 19, 2019

Saudi MOH : 2 Primary MERS Cases















#14,076

We are now just over two weeks into the Holy Month of Ramadan, which sees as many as a million religious pilgrims visiting Saudi Arabia, and their MOH has reported two new MERS cases.

The first, on the 17th - a 59 y.o. male with no known camel contact - closes out epi week #20 with 2 cases, and becomes the 4th primary case reported from Riyadh in the month of May.


Today's case (epi week #21) involves a 22 y.o. female from Al Kharj City, again a primary case with no known camel contact.

While contact with infected camels is a known conduit for reintroducing the MERS virus into the human population, for many primary cases (those outside of healthcare facilities and with no known contact with a MERS case), the source of their infection remains unknown.
Although the number of community MERS cases remains limited, they represent a serious gap in our understanding of how the virus is circulating among humans, and suggest that many (presumably mild) cases are being missed by surveillance.
Over the years, we've seen a number of analyses that have concluded that only a fraction of MERS cases are likely diagnosed, including:
While we haven't seen any indication of sustained or efficient transmission of the MERS virus in the Middle East, these unexplained community-acquired infections remain a serious concern, and bear watching.