One additional case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has been confirmed in Oman, the first such case in 2018, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The patient was a 74-year-old male Omani national, living in Batinah, who had symptom onset on 23 February 2018. The patient had neither recently travelled nor had any contact with any person with respiratory symptoms or with a known MERS-CoV case.
The patient took care of camels that were reportedly ill. The investigation of the patient’s exposure in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms is still ongoing.
The last laboratory-confirmed case of MERS-CoV from Oman was reported in November 2017. Oman has now seen 11 confirmed MERS cases in total.
Globally, 2144 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS-CoV, including at least 750 related deaths, have been reported to WHO.
Infection with MERS-CoV can cause severe disease and subsequently, results in a high mortality rate. Humans are infected with MERS-CoV from direct or indirect contact with dromedary camels. MERS-CoV has demonstrated the ability to transmit between humans. So far, the observed unsustained human-to-human transmission has occurred mainly in health care settings.
