LONDON – Concern about the deadly new Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus has “significantly increased” but the disease is not yet a global health emergency, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. The virus, which causes coughing, fever and sometimes fatal pneumonia, has been reported in more than 500 patients, mainly in Saudi Arabia, and has spread to neighboring countries, as well as in a few cases to Europe, Asia and the United States. It kills about 30 percent of those who are infected. The WHO's emergency committee, which met for five hours in Geneva on Tuesday, said on Wednesday that the seriousness of the MERS situation had increased in terms of public health impact, but there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus. Because of that, “the conditions for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) have not yet been met,” the WHO said in a statement. WHO's assistant director general for health security Keiji Fukuda said the main reason for not declaring MERS an emergency was that despite a surge in cases, the evidence did not suggest it was spreading easily from person to person. “It's the (viruses) that can really sustain transmission in communities which pose the greatest danger of spreading around the world and causing large numbers of illnesses and deaths,” Fukuda told reporters on a telephone briefing. “(And) there is no convincing evidence right now for an increase in the transmissibility of this virus.” Ben Neuman, a virus expert at Britain's University of Reading, said the WHO committee's decision was “a measured and sensible reaction to an evolving epidemic.” “It is important to remember that MERS still does not spread very efficiently between people,” he said. “It is a very serious disease if you are unlucky enough to catch it, but the odds of catching the virus – even in Saudi Arabia – are still very small.” Global health regulations define a PHEIC as an extraordinary event that poses a risk to other WHO member states through the international spread of disease, and which may require a coordinated international response. 5 new MERS deaths Saudi Arabia announced on Wednesday five new deaths from MERS, raising the death toll in the country worst-hit by the mysterious coronavirus to 157 since it appeared in 2012. The health ministry also reported 16 new infections raising the total so far to 511. Three women, all over 60, died in Riyadh, while two men, aged 56 and 57, died in Jeddah, the ministry said on its website. — Agencies
