MIDDLE EAST RESPIRATORY SYNDROME

Sept. 10, 2018

An Emirates flight from Dubai was held in quarantine in New York as it was suspected that its passengers have contracted Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Although it was later found that this was not the case.

About:

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause diseases ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Symptoms: Fever, cough and shortness of breath. Around 35% of reported patients with MERS have died.
Cause: It is caused by a novel coronavirus (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, or MERS‐CoV) that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
Transmission
- Non-human to human transmission: MERS-CoV is a zoonotic virus, which means it is a virus that is transmitted between animals and people. Dromedary camels are a major reservoir host for MERS-CoV and an animal source of infection in humans.
- Human-to-human transmission: The virus does not pass easily from person to person unless there is close contact, such as providing unprotected care to an infected patient.
Prevention and Treatment
- No vaccine or specific treatment is currently available.
- As a general precaution, anyone visiting farms or places where dromedary camels are present should practice practise regular hand washing and avoid contact with sick animals.
Affected Regions: Health care associated outbreaks have occurred in several countries, with the largest outbreaks seen in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the Republic of Korea.