Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today confirmed a new MERS-CoV case in the small southern city of Thar, while the World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday provided new details on 16 previously reported Saudi cases, more than half of them from a large cluster last month in Buraydah.
New case involves camel contact
The new MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) case involves a 54-year-old Saudi man in Thar, a city of about 16,000 in Najran region in the far south of the country.
The man, who is not a healthcare worker, is listed in stable condition. He had recent contact with camels, the MOH said, providing no other details. The case appears to be the first ever reported in Thar.
The agency has reported 11 MERS cases thus far this month, which has been a quieter month for the disease. By this time in March the MOH had confirmed 37, en route to 53 for the month. Thirty-four of those cases were in Buraydah, most linked to a hospital outbreak. The country has not reported a case in that city since Apr 1.
From the beginning of the outbreak in 2012 till now, Saudi Arabia has confirmed 1,375 MERS-CoV cases, including 587 deaths. Ten patients are still undergoing treatment for the disease.
WHO details 16 cases, 6 fatal
The WHO, meanwhile, provided details on 16 recent Saudi cases confirmed by the MOH earlier. Of those, 9 are in Buraydah, 6 proved fatal, and 4 involved contact with camels. All the patients tested positive for MERS-CoV in the latter half of March.
Fourteen of the 16 patients had comorbidities. Of the 10 surviving patients, half are hospitalized in critical condition and half in stable condition.
The WHO noted two cases in Ha'il and one each in Jazan, Turbah (a patient who was hospitalized in Taif), Mecca, Ar Rass, and Al-Kharj. One case each in Buraydah, Turbah, Ar Rass, and Al-Kharj involved recent contact with camels, including drinking raw camel milk, a known MERS risk factor. The Buraydah patient is hospitalized in Riyadh.
The eight other Buraydah cases are all linked to the hospital cluster there. Four of the patients had visited the outbreak hospital's emergency department, one of whom is also a household contact of another MERS patient. Three of the patients were first hospitalized for an unrelated condition before they contracted MERS.
See also:
Apr 15 Saudi MOH update
Apr 14 WHO update
