Saudi Arabia reports two more MERS coronavirus cases, virus confirmed in dromedary camels

Saudi Arabian health officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of an additional two laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), according to a WHO news release today.

According to the release, the cases are as follows:

The first case is a 51 year-old female from Saudi Arabia, living in Jawf province with onset of symptoms on 20 November 2013. She has underlying chronic disease and was transferred to Riyadh for treatment in an intensive care unit. She had no reported contact with animals. The epidemiological investigation is ongoing. The second case is a 26 year-old female who is a non-Saudi healthcare worker in Riyadh. She is asymptomatic. She had reported contact with a 37 year-old male laboratory confirmed case that was reported to WHO on 21 November 2013.

This brings the global total of confirmed MERS-CoV cases to 165, including 71 fatalities.

In other news about the novel virus, researchers confirmed that the strain of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) isolated in camels in a Qatari farm were basically identical to the virus found in two people associated with the farm.

The research, published in Monday’s  Lancet Infectious Diseases, notes that genetically, the camel and human viruses were very similar, but not identical.

The research team says that the virological confirmation of MERS-CoV in camels suggests a recent outbreak affecting both human beings and camels. However, they cannot conclude whether the people on the farm were infected by the camels or vice versa, or if a third source was responsible.

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Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
Image/CDC