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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

WHO reports UAE MERS case, confirms 5 Saudi cases

From Robert Roos at CIDRAP, excerpt :

" The wife of a United Arab Emirates (UAE) man who contracted Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is now infected but has no symptoms, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today as it confirmed the latest five cases reported in Saudi Arabia.

The six cases raise the WHO's MERS-CoV tally to 176 cases, including 74 deaths.

The new UAE case is in a 59-year-old woman from Sharjah who is married to a 68-year-old man whose case was reported earlier, the WHO noted. Despite having no symptoms, the woman is in isolation in a hospital.

She is reported to have no history of contact with animals or recent travel, the agency said. It also said other contacts of the couple have tested negative for the virus.

The woman's husband, who had been treated in an intensive care unit (ICU), has died, the WHO said. His illness was reported by the media on Dec 20 and noted by the WHO on Dec 22. He had diabetes and chronic kidney failure.

In confirming the five latest cases reported by Saudi Arabian authorities, the WHO added a little additional information. The Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) said all five people are from Riyadh."

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