Note: The measles item was corrected on Jan 15, because the female traveler who had measles was mistakenly called the index patient. We apologize for the error.
Saudi Arabia confirms 2 new MERS cases, 1 recovery
Two new cases of MERS-CoV were recorded today by the country's Ministry of Health (MOH), the first since Jan 8, bringing the total for this year to 10 for the country and the total since June 2012 to 835.
The new case-patients are a 67-year-old man from Taif and a 93-year-old man from Riyadh, neither one is a healthcare worker, and both having preexisting medical illnesses and are in critical condition.
The patient in Taif has had no recent contact with known or suspected MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) patients in either the community or the healthcare setting, but he does have a history of animal exposure.
The patient in Riyadh has no known animal exposure or contact with MERS patients in the community, but his exposure in the hospital or clinic setting is under investigation.
In today's update, the MOH also lists the recovery of one MERS-CoV patient, a 91-year-old man in Riyadh whose case was previously reported. He is not a healthcare worker but did have preexisting illness.
His case brings to 469 the number of patients who have recovered from MERS-CoV in Saudi Arabia. The number of deaths stays steady at 358, and 8 cases are currently active, the MOH said.
Jan 14 MOH update
Most recent (Jan 9) CIDRAP News MERS scan
Measles patient took 2 flights after leaving Disney
A woman in her 20s who is part of a Disney-linked 26-case measles outbreak flew from Orange County, Calif., to Seattle and back again before she was diagnosed as having the highly contagious disease on Jan 8, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.
The unvaccinated woman visited Disneyland in December then fell ill and became contagious on Dec 28, the story said. She flew from Orange County to Seattle via Alaska Airlines on Dec 29 and returned on a Virgin America flight on Jan 3. She visited family in Snohomish County, Wash., in the interim.
(In an e-mail exchange on Jan 15 to clarify the situation, Eric McDonald, MD, MPH, deputy public health officer, County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, said an unknown index patient exposed others on Dec 18 at Disneyland. Measles patients who were infected after attending Disneyland visited the theme park between Dec 17 and Dec 20, the LA Times reported.)
In addition, an unvaccinated man picked up measles after visiting Disneyland and was treated at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colo., and recovered. But officials warned that people might have been exposed to the virus on Jan 3 and are contacting people about possible exposure.
As previously reported yesterday, 26 people have contracted measles in the outbreak, 22 in California, 2 in Utah, and 1 each in Washington and Colorado.
Jan 13 LA Times story
Jan 13 CIDRAP News scan on outbreak
Survey finds modest awareness of modified-mosquito plan
In spite of outreach and media efforts about possibly releasing genetically modified mosquitoes after a 2009-10 dengue outbreak in Key West, Fla., only about half the community was aware of the proposal, which met with support from more than half of those with knowledge of the plan, according to a study today in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Of 386 Key West residents surveyed, 195 (51.1%) said they had heard of the proposed release of mosquitoes modified to make them sterile, which would have made it the first such release in the United States. The survey was conducted in June 2012, after 80 media and outreach activities had been conducted on Key West and neighboring Stock Island.
Among the 195 who had heard of the proposal, 22.1% were supportive and 34.9% strongly supportive, for a total of 57%. Only 8.2% opposed and 9.7% strongly opposed the plan. In addition, 25.1% described themselves as neutral.
The most common reasons for opposing the release were that it would disturb nature and that it was an unproven technology. Most supporters of the release expressed a desire to do anything to eradicate mosquitoes or preferred the method to chemicals and spraying.
The proposed release is undergoing inspection by the US Food and Drug Administration and has not yet occurred, the authors noted.
Jan 14 Emerg Infect Dis study
