Health officials in Bahrain reported details of a fatal Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) case, the first in the country, to the World Health Organization (WHO).

MERS/CDC
MERS/CDC

Specifics of the case include the following: A 61-year-old, Saudi male was admitted on 29 March to a health care facility in Bahrain for an unrelated medical condition. He was screened for MERS-CoV, a routine procedure for those coming from Saudi Arabia, and tested negative for the infection.

On 4 April, and while hospitalized, he developed symptoms. On 9 April, the patient tested positive for MERS-CoV. The patient had comorbidities. He owned a dromedary barn in Saudi Arabia and had a history of frequent contact with them and consumption of their raw milk.

He had no history of exposure to the other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. On 12 April, he was transferred to a hospital in Dammam city, Saudi Arabia but passed away on the same day.

Contact tracing of household and healthcare contacts is ongoing for this case. The Ministry of Agriculture was notified and investigation of dromedaries is also ongoing.

Globally, since September 2012, WHO has been notified of 1,725 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including at least 624 related deaths.

Related: