Two new Mers-Cov cases in Qatar
Geneva, August 29, 2013
Two new laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (Mers-CoV) infection have been reported from Qatar, a World Health Organisation statement said.
The patients include a 59-year-old man with an underlying medical condition who became ill on August 15. He is currently hospitalised and is in a stable condition, it said.
Preliminary epidemiological investigations reveal that the patient travelled to Madinah in Saudi Arabia for six days and returned to Qatar on August 15. He did not take part in Umrah. Further investigation is on-going.
The second patient is a 29-year-old man with an underlying medical condition who had no history of recent travel outside the country, the statement said.
The results of both the cases were confirmed by an international reference laboratory.
A total of 138 healthcare workers, family and community contacts have been screened in the country and so far all tested negative for MERS-CoV infection, it said.
Globally, from September 2012 to date, WHO has been informed of a total of 104 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 49 deaths.
Based on the current situation and available information, WHO encourages all Member States to continue their surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and to carefully review any unusual patterns, it said. - TradeArabia News Service
