Eleven more people have acquired MERS-CoV infections in Saudi Arabia, with 10 of the cases related to healthcare settings in Riyadh, but 8 of the patients have no symptoms, the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) reported today.
In addition, Saudi officials yesterday reported MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) outbreaks in camels at a Riyadh livestock market and three other places, all of them linked with earlier human cases.
News of the 11 new human cases follows yesterday's report of five asymptomatic cases in Riyadh, two of which involved healthcare workers.
Six health workers infected
The new cases involve six healthcare workers and four patients who were all infected in healthcare settings, but the MOH update does not list the hospitals or clinics involved. The only primary case, with no links to other human cases, is the only one outside Riyadh; it involves a 48-year-old Saudi man in Taif who had contact with camels, has symptoms, and is in stable condition.
Of the six infected healthcare workers, ranging in age from 30 to 59, 5 are women and all are foreigners, the MOH reported. The only one who has symptoms is a 51-year-old man.
The four people who acquired MERS-CoV as patients are all Saudis, including three women, ages 51, 61, and 69, and a 77-year-old man who is listed as a "co-patient." The 69-year-old woman is the only one with MERS symptoms.
The new cases raise Saudi Arabia's MERS count to 1,404, including 593 deaths and 21 patients still being treated.
Four camel outbreaks
The four camel outbreaks date back to March and April and involved herds at two farms and a village, in addition to the Riyadh livestock market, Saudi officials reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) yesterday. Many of the human MERS cases reported in the country over the past 2 to 3 months have been linked with exposure to camels.
The report says the camel outbreaks were "associated with human confirmed cases," implying that the camels were tested because of human cases nearby.
No deaths were reported in any of the outbreaks. The largest was at the livestock market, where 33 of 100 camels were affected, starting Mar 31.
A village in the Dammam area, on the Persian Gulf, was the site of the second outbreak, which began Apr 1, the report said. Two of 10 camels there were affected.
The third episode began Apr 4 and involved 2 of 18 camels on a farm in the Al-Ahsa area of the country's Eastern province. And in the fourth outbreak, which started Apr 11, 15 of 17 camels on a farm in the Medina area were infected.
The report lists quarantine (movement control) as the only response to the camel outbreaks.
See also:
Jun 17 MOH report
MOH main MERS page with case totals
Jun 16 OIE report
