The new Coronavirus, which has surfaced and has had the most cases of infection in the middle East and Arabia, now called MERS, has raised the alarm of the World Health Organization and the world, who fear that the virus could become a pandemic following the multimillion attendance at the summer's pilgrimages to the holy sites of Mecca and Medina, the area which is the epicenter of the new outbreak.
Saudi Health authorities however are voicing their doubts that the new virus, or MERS, is following the path of its older 'relative', SARS.
But is this damage control? Many foreign countries are asking that checkpoints be installed at airports to check anyone for the virus who is coming from the epidemic's area. The WHO has installed a 'readiness commission' to strategize in the case the virus mutates into a highly contagious pathogen.
The Saudi government says it has analyzed the cases of MERS that have occurred in their homeland and have deducted that there are 'major gaps' in understanding the virus.
In fact they assert that most of the fatal cases and cases in general were of people who were immune deficient or old, and in two thirds of the cases, the patient also had diabetes.
According to Saudi Public Health Deputy Minister, Dr Memish, "despite sharing some clinical similarities with Sars, there are also some important differences."
Dr. Memish goes on to explain that Sars was much more infectious, although Mers is much deadlier at least as far as the cases that have been documented. But he goes on to say that 'there is little to indicate that Mers will follow a similar path to Sars."
He also added that the Saudi Health Authorities are vigorously searching for the source of the virus.
Source; BBC/ 7.26.13
No comments:
Post a Comment