More Corona virus victims in KSA – prompt emergency measures

Saudi health authorities have reported the deaths of another two men from the MERS coronavirus, bringing the death toll from the respiratory disease in the worst hit country to 66.

A 70-year-old national, who died in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, had also been suffering from chronic illnesses, the health ministry said in a late Sunday statement.

The second victim was a medic, also in Jeddah, where the ministry reported four new cases of the disease.

The latest deaths brought the total number of cases in Saudi Arabia to 167 people since Middle East Respiratory Syndrome first appeared in the kingdom in September 2012.
Experts are struggling to understand the disease, for which there is no known vaccine.
A study has said the virus has been “extraordinarily common” in camels for at least 20 years, and may have been passed directly from the animals to humans.

The World Health Organisation said at the end of March that it has been told of 206 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS infection, including 86 deaths. 

Makkah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah met with the director-general of health and urged “precautionary measures to combat the disease” at hospitals and other health facilities in the region.

“We have to adopt health measures to ensure the safety of citizens and residents from the virus and educate the public on how to protect themselves from MERS,” the governor told health officials in the region.

The Health Ministry reported four more MERS cases in Jeddah on Monday, two of whom are health workers, prompting authorities to close the emergency department at the city’s King Fahd Hospital.

What is the Corona virus?   
                                                                                                                           Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is viral respiratory illness first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It is caused by a coronavirus called MERS-CoV. Most people who have been confirmed to have MERS-CoV infection developed severe acute respiratory illness. They had fever, cough, and shortness of breath. About half of these people died.

So far, all the cases have been linked to six countries in or near the Arabian Peninsula. No cases have been identified in the U.S. This virus has spread from ill people to others through close contact. However, the virus has not shown to spread in a sustained way in communities. The situation is still evolving.

CDC is working with partners to better understand the risks of this virus, including the source, how it spreads, and how infections might be prevented. CDC has provided information for travellers and is working with health departments, hospitals, and other partners to prepare for possible cases in the United States.

How does the virus spread? 
                                                                                                                               The ways that human coronaviruses spread have not been studied very much, except for SARS. However, it is likely that human coronaviruses spread from an infected person to others through—the air by coughing and sneezing, and close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands.

These viruses may also spread by touching contaminated objects or surfaces then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.

In one case, the SARS virus was though to spread through infected stool that got into the air; people breathed this in and got infected.