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Once a month the WHO's EMRO (Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office) provides a summary of MERS activity in the Middle East - and around the world - based on what is officially reported by individual Ministries of Health to the World Health Organization.
We usually get that report around the 10th of the month, but May's report was only released yesterday. This may have been due to reporting delays during the Holy Month of Ramadan.In this summary WHO EMRO reports 14 new MERS Cases reported by the Saudis in May, a substantial decrease from the April total of 29.
MERS situation update, May 2019Read the latest MERS update, May 2019
- At the end of May 2019, a total of 2442 laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), including 842 associated deaths (case–fatality rate: 34.5%) were reported globally; the majority of these cases were reported from Saudi Arabia (2051 cases, including 765 related deaths with a case–fatality rate of 37.3%). During the month of May, a total of 14 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS were reported globally. All 14 cases were reported from Saudi Arabia with 4 associated deaths.
- This month, Saudi Arabia has not reported any new cases related to the Al-Khafji city outbreak. The outbreak has presumed to have stopped due to the effective response measures taken by Saudi Arabia. This month, one household cluster was reported from Al-Kharj City, including two symptomatic national females aged 22 and 44. One 23-year-old national female healthcare worker was also infected this month in Riyadh. All 4 cases that died this month were symptomatic males with one or more co-morbidities.
- The demographic and epidemiological characteristics of reported cases, when compared during the same corresponding period of 2013 to 2019, do not show any significant difference or change.
- The age group 50–59 years continues to be at highest risk for acquiring infection of primary cases. The age group 30–39 years is most at risk for secondary cases. The number of deaths is higher in the age group 50–59 years for primary cases and 70–79 years for secondary cases.
These reports contain a good deal of data, and are worth reading in their entirety.
