Two fatal cases of novel coronavirus in Jordan have been reported to WHO, in addition to the November 28 report from Saudi Arabia, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to nine.

The latest confirmed case from Saudi Arabia occurred in October and is from the family cluster of the two cases confirmed earlier, a statement from the organisation said.

The two cases from Jordan occurred in April. At that time, a number of severe pneumonia cases occurred in the country and the Ministry of Health (MOH) Jordan promptly requested a WHO Collaborating Centre for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases (NAMRU – 3) team to immediately assist in the laboratory investigation. The NAMRU-3 team went to Jordan and tested samples from this cluster of cases.

On April 24 the NAMRU-3 team informed the MOH that all samples had tested negative for known coronaviruses and other respiratory viruses. As the novel coronavirus had not yet been discovered, no specific tests for it were available.

In October, after the discovery of the novel coronavirus, stored samples were sent by MOH Jordan to NAMRU-3, and in November the centre provided laboratory results that confirmed two cases of infection with the virus, the statement said.

MOH Jordan has requested WHO assistance in investigating these infections. A mission from WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office and headquarters recently arrived in Amman to assist in further epidemiological surveillance and strengthen the sentinel surveillance systems for severe acute respiratory infections (SARIs). – TradeArabia News Service