By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews
The National IHR Focal Point of Saudi Arabia reported 15 Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) cases in March 2020, including five deaths.
About half the cases were reported in Riyadh, while the rest were reported in Makkah, Najran, and Al Qassim regions.
Two had been exposed to camels or camel milk before they got sick, according to officials. The majority of cases (13) were in men and no healthcare workers were infected in March.
Nearly all the cases had underlying medical conditions to include diabetes mellitus, hypertension and/or chronic renal failure.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says infection with MERS-CoV can cause severe disease resulting in high mortality. Humans are infected with MERS-CoV from direct or indirect contact with dromedaries. MERS-CoV has demonstrated the ability to transmit between humans. So far, the observed non-sustained human-to-human transmission has occurred mainly in health care settings.
Since 2012 until 31 March 2020, the total number of laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV infection cases reported globally to WHO is 2553 with 876 associated deaths.
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