Abdulrahman Al-Ali Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – The measures taken by Saudi Arabia to contain MERS coronavirus have been effective, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. The Kingdom had registered 40 confirmed cases of this new respiratory virus, the WHO said on Monday in a press statement, adding that about 60 percent of these cases resulted in death. Officials of the WHO mission in the Kingdom held a meeting with Saudi officials in Riyadh last Tuesday to assess the situation arising out of MERS outbreak, the statement said. “The first confirmed MERS case in the Middle East was in Jordan in the beginning of last year. At present, there are 55 confirmed cases, of which 40 cases are in the Kingdom while the remaining cases are in some other countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar,” the statement said, adding that the number of MERS afflicted people is very limited.
According to the WHO, nearly 75 percent of those who contracted the disease in the Kingdom are men. Most of those afflicted with it are those who are chronic patients. “Until now, we do not know about the source of the virus or how exactly it is spreading. The virus has been shown to spread between people who are in close contact. Transmission from infected patients to healthcare personnel has also been observed,” the statement said and added: “However, there has been no specific evidence for the spread of the disease from person to person.” MERS coronavirus has the same symptoms as SARS which caused widespread panic when it became a global pandemic in 2003. MERS is classified as part of the virus family that triggers the common cold. Most people who got infected with MERS-CoV developed severe acute respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The WHO delegation appreciated the Kingdom's positive response to take quick action to contain the virus when it broke out for the first time. “When the first case was reported in 2012, the Ministry of Health had taken a number of precautionary measures, including readying the required arrangements in hospitals, enhancing awareness about MERS, massive awareness campaign, reporting the cases to WHO, conducting tests to pinpoint the source of the virus and ways of its spreading, and seeking assistance of international experts,” the statement said, urging all the countries in the Middle East to intensify their preventive and curative measures against the virus.
