15 Cases of MERS-CoV in Saudi Arabia are Reported to WHO

March 27, 2015

Between March 11, 2015 and March 22, 2015, the National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of 15 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including three deaths.

Details of the cases are as follows:

1. A 50-year-old, non-national male from Najran city developed symptoms on March 11 and was admitted to a hospital on March 20. The patient has no comorbidities. Investigation of history of exposure to known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms is ongoing. Currently, the patient is in stable condition in a negative pressure isolation room on a ward.

2. A 54-year-old, non-national male from Riyadh city developed symptoms on March 19 and was admitted to a hospital on March 20. The patient has comorbidities condition of diabetes mellitus. He is a contact of a laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV case. The patient has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, he is in stable condition in a negative pressure isolation room on a ward.

3. A 60-year-old, non-national male from Jeddah city developed symptoms on March 15 and was admitted to a hospital on March 19. The patient has comorbidities and a history of travelling to Madinah during the 14 days prior to onset of symptoms. Investigation of history of exposure to known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms is ongoing. Currently, the patient is in stable condition in ICU.

4. A 73-year-old male from Riyadh city developed symptoms on March 13 while admitted to a hospital since Jan. 9 due to an unrelated medical condition. The patient was admitted to the same hospital as other laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV cases; investigation of epidemiological links with these cases and with shared health workers is ongoing. The patient has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, he is in critical condition in ICU.

5. A 27-year-old male from Riyadh city developed symptoms on March 8 and was admitted to a hospital on March 14. The patient has a history of frequent visits to the same hospital for an unrelated medical condition; however, he has no history of contact with the laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV cases that were treated at the hospital. Currently, the patient is in stable condition in a negative pressure isolation room on a ward.

6. A 56-year-old male from Riyadh city developed symptoms on March 12 and was admitted to a hospital on March 14. The patient has comorbidities. Investigation of history of exposure to known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms is ongoing. Currently, the patient is in stable condition in a negative pressure isolation room on a ward.

7. A 44-year-old, non-national male from AlKhafji city developed symptoms on March 4 and was admitted to a hospital on March 14. The patient has no comorbidities. He has history of frequent contact with camels and consumption of raw camel milk. He has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, the patient is in stable condition in a negative pressure isolation room on a ward.

8. A 60-year-old male from Taima city developed symptoms on March 7 and was admitted to a hospital on March 11. The patient has comorbidities and history of frequent contact with camels and consumption of raw camel milk. He has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, the patient is in stable condition in a negative pressure isolation room on a ward.

9. A 47-year-old male from Alfadliah town developed symptoms on March 2 and was admitted to a hospital on March 12. The patient has comorbidities. Investigation of history of exposure to known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms is ongoing. Currently, the patient is in stable condition in a negative pressure isolation room on a ward.

10. A 21-year-old non-national male from Riyadh city, Riyadh Region developed symptoms on March 8 and was admitted to a hospital on March 12. The patient has comorbidities. Investigation of history of exposure to known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms is ongoing. The patient is in critical condition in ICU.

11. A 31-year-old, non-national male from Riyadh city developed symptoms on March 1 and was admitted to a hospital on March 10. The patient was a smoker and had comorbidities. Investigation of history of exposure to known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms is ongoing. The patient died on March 12.

12. A 45-year-old, non-national, female health worker from Riyadh city developed symptoms on March 8 and was admitted to a hospital on March 10. The patient has no comorbid conditions. She has a history of contact with a laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV case that was reported previously. Currently, the patient is in stable condition in a negative pressure isolation room on a ward.

13. A 62-year-old female from Riyadh city developed symptoms on March 3 while admitted to a hospital since Nov. 23, 2014 due to unrelated medical conditions. The patient was admitted to the same hospital as other laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV cases; investigation of epidemiological links with these cases and with shared health workers is ongoing. She had no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. The patient died on March 15.

14. A 59-year-old male from Riyadh city developed symptoms on March 7 and was admitted to a hospital on March 8. The patient had no comorbidities. He was a contact of a laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV case that was reported previously. He had no history of exposure to known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. The patient died on March 14.

15. A 55-year-old, non-national male from Jeddah city developed symptoms on March 5 and was admitted to a hospital on March 8. The patient has no comorbidities and no history of contact with camels; however, he has frequent contacts with sheep and regular consumption of raw sheep products. The patient has no history of exposure to known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, he is in stable condition in a negative pressure isolation room on a ward.

The National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also notified WHO of the death of five previously reported MERS-CoV cases.

Contact tracing of household contacts and healthcare contacts is ongoing for these cases.

Globally, WHO has been notified of 1,090 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including at least 412 related deaths.

Source: WHO