For the first time in nearly a year, the National IHR Focal Point for the Islamic Republic of Iran has reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) a case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection.
According to UN health officials, a 61-year- old male from Kahnooj city developed symptoms on 18 March and was admitted to hospital in Kahnooj city on 26 March. The patient was transferred to another hospital in Kerman city on 28 March. He has no comorbidities. On 13 March, the patient had contact with two individuals with influenza-like illness (ILI) who returned from Umrah on 10 March. He has no history of contact with other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to onset of symptoms. The patient was discharged from hospital on 27 April.
Contact tracing of household and healthcare contacts is ongoing for this case. Also, investigation of the two ILI cases is ongoing. The two ILI cases have no history of exposure to any of the known risk factors while performing Umrah.
Globally, WHO has been notified of 1112 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including at least 422 related deaths.
