The National IHR Focal Point of Saudi Arabia reported 10 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) infection and one associated death in the month of November, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Four of the cases were reported from Riyadh, while two were reported from Madinah and one each in Al-Qassim, Assir, Taif, and Makkah regions.
According to the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health, three cases have been reported in December to date.
Since the first cases were reported in 2012 through November 2019, a total of 2494 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS-CoV and 858 associated deaths were reported globally to WHO under the International Health regulations (IHR 2005).
To date, 27 countries have reported cases including 10 on the Arabian Peninsula and 17 outside the Arabian Peninsula.
Infection with MERS-CoV can cause severe disease resulting in high mortality. 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 non-sustained human-to-human transmission has occurred mainly in health care settings.
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