Health officials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported recently on a laboratory-confirmed case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV).
The case is a 78 year old, male national, residing in Gayathi, UAE. On 13 May 2018, the patient presented to a hospital in Abu Dhabi with fever, cough and shortness of breath, which began on 4 May 2018. A lower respiratory/nasopharyngeal sample was collected on 14 May 2018 and tested positive for MERS-CoV by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) at the Sheikh Khalifa Medical Centre laboratory.
He is currently in stable condition in hospital. The patient has hypertension and interstitial lung disease as underlying conditions. Investigation into the source of infection is ongoing. The patient reported recent travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and he owns a camel farm in UAE, which he visits on daily basis.
Globally, 2207 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS-CoV, including 787 MERS associated deaths have occurred since September 2012.
