Between 19 and 30 December 2014, the National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) notified WHO of 3 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including 1 death.
Details of the cases are as follows:
- An 84-year-old male from Najran city who developed symptoms on 26 December. He was admitted to hospital on 28 December. The patient had comorbidities. He owned goats and sheep but had no history of direct contact with them. The patient resided in an area with heavy presence of camels. He had no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. The patient was admitted to ICU but passed away on 1 January 2015.
- A 31-year-old female from Riyadh city who developed symptoms on 20 December. She was admitted to hospital on 23 December. The patient has comorbidities. She has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, the patient is in ICU in critical condition.
- A 53-year-old male from Alkharj city who developed symptoms on 12 December. He was admitted to hospital on 17 December. The patient has comorbidities. He owns goats and sheep and has frequent contact with them. Despite residing in an area with heavy presence of camels, the patient has no history of contact with them or consuming raw camel products. He has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, the patient is in stable condition and remains in an isolation ward.
Contact tracing of household contacts and healthcare contacts is ongoing for these cases.
Globally, the WHO has been notified of 944 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including at least 348 related deaths.
