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| Recent MERS Activity - Credit Saudi MOH |
#14,449
The slight uptick in Saudi MERS cases continues with a 3rd case reported by the MOH in Epi Week #40, the biggest weekly tally in more than a month.
This week's 3rd case hails from Wadi Aldwasir, which was the site of a large community & Healthcare acquired outbreak (60+ cases & 8 deaths) this past spring.You can find details on that cluster in last April's in WHO Update & Saudi Epidemiological Investigation Of The Wadi Aldwasir MERS Cluster (snippet below):
Investigations into the source of infection of the 61 cases found that 37 were health-care acquired infections, 14 were primary cases presumed to be infected from contact with dromedary camels and the remaining (10) infections occurred among close contacts outside of health care settings.All three cases this week have been male, ranging in age from 34 to 70, are listed as `primary'. Only one is known to have had recent contact with camels. The infection source of `primary' cases without camel contact are generally unknown.
MERS reporting out of Saudi Arabia has always been a bit erratic, including a nearly 3-month gap last summer (see The Saudi MOH Breaks Their Silence On MERS-CoV), and there are always questions surrounding the `sensitivity' of any disease surveillance system.
Between asymptomatic or mild cases, atypical presentations, and less than 100% reliable laboratory testing (see EID Journal: Sensitivity and Specificity Of MERS-CoV Antibody Testing), it has long been assumed we are only hearing about some fraction of the number of actual infections.For the past few months, however, reported cases remain relatively few, comprised mostly of widely scattered community cases, and the occasional household or hospital cluster.
All viruses - including MERS-CoV - evolve over time. And so we watch it carefully for any signs that the status quo is changing.