WHO MERS Update – Saudi Arabia – August 18th

Credit WHO

 

# 10,425

 

While we await today’s MERS update from Saudi Arabia (spoiler alert, expect 10 new cases in Riyadh today), we have the most recent WHO GAR update, which chronicles 12 cases between the 10th and 12th of August.  Ten of these are either linked to ER visits, or being hospitalized, at facilities where MERS cases were being treated.

One other case is a contact of a previously identified case, while the other had camel contact.  

Most striking, of the 10 assumed nosocomial cases, no direct contact with an infected case is cited. Their exposure risk is simply listed as being treated in a facility where MERS cases have been hospitalized.

 

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – Saudi Arabia

Disease outbreak news
18 August 2015

Between 10 and 12 August 2015, the National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notified WHO of 12 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including 1 death.

Details of the cases

1. A 57-year-old male from Riyadh city developed symptoms on 8 August while admitted to hospital for an unrelated medical condition since 2010. This hospital has been experiencing a MERS-CoV outbreak. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 11 August. Currently, he is in critical condition in ICU. Investigation of possible epidemiological links with the MERS-CoV cases admitted to his hospital or with shared health care workers is ongoing.
2. A 56-year-old female from Riyadh city developed symptoms on 7 August while admitted to hospital for an unrelated medical condition since 29 July. This hospital has been experiencing a MERS-CoV outbreak. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 9 August. Currently, she is in critical condition in ICU. Investigation of possible epidemiological links with the MERS-CoV cases admitted to her hospital or with shared health care workers is ongoing.
3. A 78-year-old female from Riyadh city developed symptoms on 7 August while admitted to hospital for an unrelated medical condition since 26 July. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 8 August. Currently, she is in critical condition in ICU. Investigation of possible epidemiological links with the MERS-CoV cases admitted to her hospital or with shared health care workers is ongoing.
4. A 58-year-old male from Abha city developed symptoms on 6 August and was admitted to hospital on 10 August. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 12 August. He has a history of contact with camels and consumption of their raw milk. The patient has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, he is in critical condition in ICU.
5. A 63-year-old male from Riyadh city developed symptoms on 29 July and, on 3 August, was admitted to a hospital that has been experiencing a MERS-CoV outbreak. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 5 August. He visited the emergency room of the same hospital due to his chronic conditions in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. The patient has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Investigation of possible epidemiological links with the MERS-CoV cases admitted to his hospital or with shared health care workers is ongoing. Currently, the patient is in critical condition in ICU.
6. A 45-year-old male from Riyadh city developed symptoms on 4 August while admitted to hospital for an unrelated medical condition since 30 July. This hospital has been experiencing a MERS-CoV outbreak. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 6 August. Currently, he is in critical condition in ICU. Investigation of possible epidemiological links with the MERS-CoV cases admitted to his hospital or with shared health care workers is ongoing.
7. A 56-year-old male national from Riyadh city developed symptoms on 4 August while admitted to hospital for an unrelated medical condition since 23 July. This hospital has been experiencing a MERS-CoV outbreak. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 5 August. Currently, he is in critical condition in ICU. Investigation of possible epidemiological links with the MERS-CoV cases admitted to his hospital or with shared health care workers is ongoing.
8. A 99-year-old male from Riyadh city developed symptoms on 6 August while admitted to hospital for an unrelated medical condition since 23 May. This hospital has been experiencing a MERS-CoV outbreak. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 8 August. Currently, he is in critical condition in ICU. Investigation of possible epidemiological links with the MERS-CoV cases admitted to his hospital or with shared health care workers is ongoing.
9. A 65-year-old male from Riyadh city developed symptoms on 8 August and, on the same day, was admitted to hospital. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 9 August. He is a contact of a laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV case (see DON published on 12 August – case n. 3). Investigation of history of exposure to other known risk factors is ongoing. Currently, the patient is in stable condition admitted to a negative pressure isolation room on a ward.
10. A 57-year-old male from Riyadh city developed symptoms on 1 August and, on 4 August, was admitted to hospital that has been experiencing a MERS-CoV outbreak. The patient visited the emergency room of the same hospital due to unrelated medical conditions in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. He has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 6 August. Currently, he is in critical condition in ICU. Investigation of possible epidemiological links with the MERS-CoV cases admitted to his hospital or with shared health care workers is ongoing.
11. A 57-year-old male from Riyadh city developed symptoms on 29 July and, on 30 July, was admitted to a hospital that has been experiencing a MERS-CoV outbreak. The patient visited the emergency room of the same hospital due to unrelated medical conditions in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. He has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 2 August. Currently, he is in stable condition in ICU. Investigation of possible epidemiological links with the MERS-CoV cases admitted to his hospital or with shared health care workers is ongoing.
12. A 73-year-old female from Riyadh city developed symptoms on 31 July and, on 2 August, was admitted to a hospital that has been experiencing a MERS-CoV outbreak. The patient visited the emergency room of the same hospital due to unrelated medical conditions in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. She had no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. The patient, who had comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 4 August and passed away on 11 August. Investigation of possible epidemiological links with the MERS-CoV cases admitted to her hospital or with shared health care workers is ongoing.

Contact tracing of household and healthcare contacts is ongoing for these cases.

The National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also notified WHO of the death of 1 MERS-CoV case that was reported in a previous DON on 12 August (case n. 14).