Ellen Knickmeyer and Ahmed Al Oman report that Saudi Arabia has confirmed a surge in cases of the virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, (MERS), as they report in the Wall Street Journal article, Deadly Virus's Spread Raises Alarms in Mideast:
Saudis Defend Approach to MERS Outbreak, Even as Cases Increase.
Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf countries have said they are taking adequate measures against infection since the first laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS, which kills largely through respiratory infections, in September 2012. Since then, the WHO says it has confirmed 228 cases, 92 of them fatal.
The hospital reopened its emergency room on Friday after shutting it briefly for what authorities said was disinfection measures against MERS. But patients were avoiding the hospital, and health workers were "very worried" after the MERS death of one colleague and sickness in another, the doctor said. "What I really wish for is to shut the whole hospital down" until the spread subsides, she said.
Last week marked the biggest number of cases since the outbreak began, Dr. Ian M. Mackay, an Australian epidemiologist who has tracked the outbreak, wrote on Sunday. About 50 of the overall cases have been in health-care workers, he said, a strong warning sign about measures being taken to control the outbreak, he and others have said. "As far as we know, MERS-CoV does not spread easily from person-to-person, so these clusters suggest a breakdown in infection prevention and control." ...
The U.A.E. has had five cases of infected paramedics after the death of one of their colleagues. Yemen has reported a case, and cases from the Middle East have apparently arrived in Europe. I have just learned of this outbreak, so have little additional information I can add at this time.
Camels are one host of the various and the virus also spreads by person to person contact. Many cases, even deaths have been reported among health workers.
Ironically, Saudi Arabia canceled visas to West African nations, including Guinea, last week, to avoid the possibility of religious pilgrims bringing the Ebola virus to Saudi
Arabia. I have not been able to determine if Guinea and other West African nations plan to cancel visas from Saudi Arabian wishing to visit West Africa to prevent the spread of MERS to their countries.