Last week, health officials in Oman reported an additional case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in a 67-year-old man.
The patient from Dakhlia Governorate developed symptoms on Nov. 18, and was admitted to hospital on Nov. 20. The patient who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on Nov. 29.
He has a history of exposure to animals (camels, goats and cows) in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. The patient is in stable condition and was discharged from hospital. Contact tracing of household contacts is ongoing for the case. Investigation of camels is also ongoing.
This is the eighth confirmed MERS case reported in Oman.
Globally, since September 2012, WHO has been notified of 1842 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including at least 652 related deaths.
MERS is viral respiratory illness recently recognized in humans and first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and has since spread to several other countries. Most people identified as infected with MERS-CoV developed severe acute respiratory illness, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Many of them have died.
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