2018 Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak
2018 MERS outbreak is located in Earth
Liverpool
Liverpool
Seoul
Seoul
New York City
New York City
Confirmed MERS cases
Suspected MERS cases
LocationConfirmed cases: Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, South Korea
Index caseJeddah, Saudi Arabia
Date23 August 2018 – now
Confirmed cases193[3]
Suspected cases‡~150
Deaths
56[3]
‡Suspected cases have not been confirmed by laboratory tests as being due to this strain, although some other strains may have been ruled out.

The 2018 Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak was a set of infections of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV). The cases were most numerous in, and are believed to have originated from, Saudi Arabia.

250 cases of MERS were recorded in 2017, and 249 in 2016.[3] In 2018, there was an early surge in cases, with 21 confirmed cases in February.[4] However, over the whole year, cases were down compared to previous years, with 147 recorded cases.[3]

MERS-CoV

The syndrome originates in countries on the Arabian peninsula, and there is a low general risk to any travelers. Symptoms usually appear 2 to 14 days after exposure, and include fever, cough, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing.[5]

Annual summaries

Total laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS world-wide per year were as follows:[6][7][8]

YearCases
201214[8]
2013100[8]
2014381[8]
2015492[7]
2016249[7]
2017250[7]
2018147[7]
2019217 [6]
202061 (to June) [9]

Background of cases

On 18 June 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that there were 75 laboratory-confirmed MERS cases in Saudi Arabia.[10] The first observed case outside of the Middle East was diagnosed on 23 August 2018 in the United Kingdom, being the first case in 5 years in the country.[11] A second case was detected on 8 September 2018 of a South Korean man who was traveling from the Middle East, being the first diagnosis in that country since the 2015 outbreak.[12] There were also hundreds of suspected cases in the United States and other parts of the world, most of which were eventually diagnosed as not being MERS infections.[2][13]

Full year totals were as follows:[7]

CountryConfirmed casesSuspected casesDeaths
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia145[7] ?41[7]
Oman Oman1 ?0[7]
United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates1 ?0[7]
South Korea South Korea1 (travel-associated)0?0[7]
United Kingdom United Kingdom1 (travel-associated)0?0[7]
United States United States0~100?0

Response

The Ministry of Health in the Republic of Korea monitored at least 21 individuals who were in close contact with the confirmed case, and placed all identified close contacts in quarantine at their homes.[14]

World Health Organization

The confirmed case in Korea did not change the World Health Organization (WHO) overall global risk assessment for the disease, and WHO also stated that any additional confirmed cases would also not change the risk, which was deemed as low.[14] However, it does recommend countries to continue to monitor potential cases and to carefully record any unusual patterns.

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

After the confirmed case in the United Kingdom, the ECDC repeated their risk assessment[15] that close contacts of confirmed cases must be monitored for symptoms for at least 14 days after the last exposure. The organization also repeated that cases of the syndrome were not unexpected and had been observed in Europe before, and the risk of transmission to the general population from the confirmed case was extremely low.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Officials: Two flights land at PHL after passengers exhibit flu-like symptoms". www.fox29.com. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 "More flights from Middle East arrive with ill passengers". www.nbcnews.com. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Pandemic Epidemic Diseases news: Infectious disease outbreaks reported in the Eastern Mediterranean region in 2018 Between 12 January through 31 May 2018, the National IHR Focal Point of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reported 75 laboratory confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS_CoV), including twenty-three (23) deaths. Date www.emro.who.int, accessed 29 January 2020
  4. ↑ Table of Laboratory-confirmed cases in Saudi Arabia, Jan-May 2018 www.who.int, accessed 29 January 2020
  5. ↑ "IAMAT | Middle East Respiratory Syndrome". www.iamat.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  6. 1 2 MERS-CoV worldwide overview Situation update, 6 December 2020 www.ecdc.europa.eu, accessed 7 February 2020
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Epidemic and pandemic-prone diseases Infectious disease outbreaks reported in the Eastern Mediterranean Region in 2018 See 8. Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) www.emro.who.int, accessed 29 January 2020
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Rapid Risk Assessment: Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) — Seventeenth update, 11 June 2015" (PDF). European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "MERS coronavirus update: 61 cases reported in first half of 2020". 4 July 2020.
  10. ↑ "Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – Saudi Arabia". World Health Organization. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  11. ↑ "First case of deadly MERS virus in five years diagnosed in England". www.cnn.com. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  12. ↑ "South Korean man infected by MERS virus, first case in 3 years". Reuters. 8 September 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  13. ↑ "South Korea searching for 50 foreigners possibly exposed to Mers". www.straitstimes.com. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  14. 1 2 "Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection – Republic of Korea". World Health Organization. Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  15. ↑ EDCD (11 June 2015). "Rapid Risk Assessment - Middle Ease Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV)" (PDF). EDCE Risk Assessment. 1: 1–11.
  16. ↑ "New case of MERS-CoV identified in the United Kingdom". European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
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