MERS arrives in Algeria, hits 6 more in Saudi Arabia
Robert Roos
CIDRAP News
Jun 02, 2014
MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) arrived in Algeria in the form of cases in two men who had gone on an Umrah pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on May 31.
In addition, six more MERS cases were reported in Saudi Arabia today and over the weekend. And today, the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) tersely announced the firing of Deputy Health Minister Ziad Memish, MD, who long served as the government’s lead spokesman on MERS and was often the target of criticism about the MOH’s response to the disease.
In another MERS development, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) released a new MERS risk assessment on May 31, saying the risk for Europe remains low but that more cases will probably be imported to Europe from the Arabian Peninsula.
Algerian cases
The WHO’s Regional Office for Africa said the two Algerian cases involved a 66-year-old man and a 59-year-old man who were in Saudi Arabia for the Umrah pilgrimage, but it did not indicate that the two traveled together.
The 66-year-old sought care for fever and dyspnea after arriving in Algeria from Mecca on May 23, and was hospitalized, the WHO said. The younger man got sick with an influenza-like illness and diarrhea in Saudi Arabia on May 23. He was hospitalized in a different Algerian hospital May 29.
The diagnosis of MERS-CoV was established for both men on May 30, the statement said. It gave no information about their conditions, their possible exposures in Saudi Arabia, or monitoring of their contacts.
Algeria is the 21st country to report a MERS case. The 20th was Iran, which reported two cases last week in women who had gone on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. All cases so far have had direct or indirect links to countries on or near the Arabian Peninsula.
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