Three Cases of MERS-CoV are Reported to WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been informed of an additional three laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection. One case was reported from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on March 11 and two cases from Saudi Arabia on March 5.

Details of the case reported by the UAE are as follows:
The patient is a 68-year-old man from Abu Dhabi, UAE. He became ill on March 1, was admitted to a hospital on March 3 and is currently in a stable condition. The patient has underlying medical conditions. He had no contact with other known MERS-CoV cases and had no travel history. The patient owns a farm that he visits daily, and where he had contact with animals, including camels which he breeds.

Details of the cases reported by the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia are as follows:
A 51-year-old man from Riyadh region with underlying medical conditions. He became ill on February 28 and was hospitalized on March 2. He is reported to have had exposure with animals.

A 56-year-old woman from Riyadh region with underlying medical conditions. She became ill on February 17, was hospitalized on February 25 and died on 3 March.

Globally, from September 2012 to date, WHO has been informed of a total of 189 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 82 deaths.

Source: WHO