Saudis report 12 more MERS cases; Greece has its first
Robert Roos
CIDRAP News
Apr 18, 2014
Saudi Arabia reported 12 more MERS-CoV cases today, six of them in Jeddah, the site of a steadily growing outbreak, while Greece reported its first case, involving a man who had been in Jeddah before flying to Greece.
The other six Saudi Arabian cases, including one death, are in Riyadh, according to translations of statements from the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH). Two of the new cases in Jeddah involve healthcare workers (HCWs), and three of the patients have no symptoms, but one has died. The Jeddah outbreak now exceeds 50 cases, unofficially.
The case in Greece involves a 69-year-old Greek man who was living in Saudi Arabia and arrived in Greece yesterday with a fever, according to a computer translation of a news report posted by FluTrackers, an infectious disease message board. It said he traveled from Jeddah but didn’t say whether he lives there.
The story said the man is hospitalized in stable condition and that the Pasteur Institute in Greece confirmed his MERS infection with two molecular tests.
The country’s disease-control agency is working to identify and monitor the man’s contacts, including his fellow passengers on the flight from Saudi Arabia, the story said.
Greece now joins the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy on the list of European countries that have had MERS cases. All the cases have involved direct or indirect links to the Middle East. Tunisia has had cases as well, also with a Middle Eastern connection.
The Rest…HERE
