WHO confirms MERS in Iran as Kuwait finds virus in camels
Robert Roos
CIDRAP News
Jun 11, 2014
The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed the first two MERS-CoV cases in Iran, reported recently in the news media, while another media story said Kuwait has found the virus in five camels.
Also, Saudi Arabia reported no new MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases or deaths today, for the second day in a row.
Meanwhile, a ScienceInsider report unveiled the circumstances underlying two recent scientific papers that deal with MERS-CoV in the same Saudi Arabian patient and his camels. The story describes a dispute between Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) scientists and a Saudi university group and raises questions about the findings of the latter.
Both Iranian patients still alive
In confirming the MERS cases in two Iranian sisters, the WHO said both patients are still alive, which contradicts a May 30 media report that said one of them had died. The agency said Iranian officials informed it of the cases on May 26.
The two women, ages 52 and 50, both have underlying conditions and fell ill on May 11, the WHO reported. The older one was hospitalized the same day and is in critical condition. She had not traveled, had contact with animals, or consumed raw camel products before her illness, but she had close contact with another woman who had traveled to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah pilgrimage and had an influenza-like illness.
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