Saudi Arabia reported three more MERS cases yesterday, while the World Health Organization (WHO) offered some details on nine earlier cases and convened a meeting today to review the MERS situation.
The new cases involve a 56-year-old woman in critical condition and two men, ages 26 and 59, both in stable condition, the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) said. The woman and the younger man are from Al-Kharj, a city 77 kilometers south of Riyadh, while the older man is from Hofuf (Hafoof), in the Eastern province.
All three have preexisting diseases and none are healthcare workers, the agency said. The woman has a history of animal exposure, but none of the three was exposed to any MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) case-patients.
The report raises Saudi Arabia's MERS count to 849 cases, including 365 deaths. Nine patients are still being treated.
WHO profiles earlier cases
In a statement yesterday, the WHO described nine MERS-CoV cases that the Saudi MOH had reported between Jan 14 and 22. Eight patients were from Riyadh and one from Taif. All but one were men, with ages ranging from 38 to 93. Four of the patients died, two recovered, and three were in stable condition, the WHO said.
Before their MERS illnesses, three of the patents had been admitted (for other health problems) to hospitals where MERS patients had been or were being treated. Four other patients had no exposure to any known risk factors in the 2 weeks before they got sick.
One patient, a 67-year-old man from Taif, lived in an area that had many camels, though he had no history of direct contact with them. He died on Jan 21, the WHO said.
WHO panel confers
Also today, the WHO convened the eighth meeting of its Emergency Committee on MERS-CoV to consider whether the disease constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. The disease has not yet prompted an emergency declaration.
The meeting, convened under the International Health Regulations, was to be held by teleconference, the WHO said in an e-mail notice to journalists. The agency promised to issue a report on the committee's conclusions afterward.
The meeting comes amid a continuing trickle of MERS cases in Saudi Arabia and occasional cases in neighboring countries. The panel's last meeting was held in late September of 2014.
See also:
Feb 3 Saudi MOH statement
Feb 3 WHO report on 9 cases
Information on WHO MERS-CoV committee
