The World Health Organisation encourages all its Member States to continue surveillance for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome- Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and to carefully review any unusual patterns.
The WHO warning, dated May 29, comes after 49 laboratory confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV including 27 deaths, globally since September 2012. The WHO has received reports of laboratory-confirmed cases originating from Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. France, Germany, Tunisia and the United Kingdom also reported laboratory-confirmed cases where most of the patients who became infected had travelled to the Middle East and subsequently became ill. In their statement the WHO also states that in France, Tunisia and the United Kingdom, there has been limited local transmission among patients who had not been to the Middle East but had been in close contact with travellers from Middle East who were infected.
Common symptoms are acute, serious respiratory illness with fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties, according to the WHO. Most patients have had pneumonia. Many have also had gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhoea. Some patients have had kidney failure. In people with immune deficiencies, the disease may have an atypical presentation. “It is important to note that the current understanding of illness caused by this infection is based on only a few cases and may change as we learn more about the virus,” WHO states.
They further state that WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event nor does it currently recommend the application of any travel or trade restrictions.
The MERS-CoV virus is related to SARS, which killed some 800 people in a global epidemic in 2003. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness in humans and animals. In people, coronaviruses can cause illnesses ranging in severity from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)