In a follow-up to a report Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) released details of the laboratory confirmed case of Middle-East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection diagnosed in Vienna, Austria.
The case is a 29 year old female citizen of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (SAU), who travelled on 22 September 2014 to Vienna, Austria on a flight from Doha, Qatar. She had originally travelled from Affif, SAU, via Riyadh, by car. The case was symptomatic with an upper respiratory infection and fever prior to arrival in Austria.
The patient sought medical treatment in Austria on 24 September 2014, and was transferred to a private hospital on 26 September and then, on 28 September 2014, to the reference hospital for highly infectious diseases in Vienna. The patient is currently in a stable condition. No exposure to camels or their products, no prior hospital admission, nor contact to a known MERS-CoV case, nor any sick person has been reported.
All of the contacts identified in Austria have been informed about the disease and are being followed up by Austrian health authorities. So far 2 close contacts have presented with upper respiratory symptoms and are admitted to hospital. Laboratory results of these contacts are pending as of 30 September 2014.
Globally, 853 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV including at least 301 related deaths have officially been reported to WHO.
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