Dubai healthcare worker is 177th MERS coronavirus case reported to the WHO
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed of a new laboratory confirmed case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in United Arab Emirates, according to a Disease Outbreak News release Jan. 3.
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Image/CIA
The patient is a 33 year-old male healthcare worker in Dubai who was in contact with the confirmed MERS-CoV case reported to WHO on 20 December. He developed symptoms on 27 December, and was hospitalized on 28 December with bilateral pneumonia, acute renal failure and thrombocytopenia. The patient has underlying history of bronchial asthma and chronic kidney disease. The case was laboratory confirmed for MERS-CoV on 29 December 2013. The patient is in critical but stable condition.
Globally, this is the 177th confirmed case to be reported to the WHO. Of that, 74 have resulted in death (41.8% CFR).
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory illness. MERS is caused by a coronavirus called “Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus” (MERS-CoV).
According to the CDC, most people who got infected with MERS-CoV developed severe acute respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough, and shortness of breath. About half of them died. Some people were reported as having a mild respiratory illness.
MERS-CoV has been shown to spread between people who are in close contact. Transmission from infected patients to healthcare personnel has also been observed. Clusters of cases in several countries are being investigated.
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