Tuesday, December 3, 2013

CIDRAP: MERS-CoV: UAE reports cases, Qatar finds infected camels

December 2, 2013
Robert Ross

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) yesterday reported three Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) cases in one young family, including a pregnant woman. That report came 4 days after Qatari officials revealed that the virus was found in three camels with links to two human case-patients.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said today that the UAE cases involved a 38-year-old man, a 32-year-old woman, and their 8-year-old son. Media reports said the three were from Jordan, but the WHO statement did not list their nationality. A report today in the UAE newspaper The National said the mother has died of her illness.

-SNIP-

Infected camels

Qatari officials reported the infected camels in a statement dated Nov 27, and the WHO followed up with its own statement Nov 29.

The WHO said the camel infections were found during the investigations of two human cases in Qatar, both in October. One involved a 61-year-old man who owns a farm and had significant contact with camels, sheep, and hens. The other case involved a 23-year-old man who worked in the other patient's barn. Qatar's Supreme Council of Health (SCH) said both of those patients recovered.

The WHO said the three infected camels were among a herd of 14 that were tested in the investigation of the human cases. All the camels seemed healthy or showed only mild signs of illness when samples were collected for MERS-CoV testing, and their status didn't change during their ensuing 40 days in isolation, the agency said.

Continued.  Complete article:  http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2013/12/mers-cov-uae-reports-cases-qatar-finds-infected-camels 

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