Reported Cases of MERS virus infection increasing

[Bob]

MERS one more death one more infection reported - South Korea 182 infections, 32 of them fatal.

(Source)

36 healthcare workers have been sickened in the outbreak.

Patient Zero -

The original 68-year-old man who got sick after traveling to four Middle Eastern countries—has recovered from MERS-CoV and was discharged from National Medical Center, the Korea Times reported today.

He still has pneumonia but has cleared the virus, based on several rounds of testing, the story said. He is now being treated at a general hospital.

The patient in Thailand, will remain in quarantine for the time being even though he now is declared virus free, but other health conditions are still happening with the man.

[Bob]

184 cases reported of MERS in South Korea

Hong Kong extends its monitoring of people for checking for signs of infection.

Two new infections were confirmed yesterday and today in Seoul.

Tour agencies in Hong Kong yesterday decided that no group tours would be organised for South Korea this month. They have cancelled group tours to the country since early last month when the travel alert was issued.

Hong Kong’s “red” alert for South Korea was the first health-related security warning it had ever issued.

(From the South China Morning Post)

[Bob]

MERS - second case reported in Philippines

(Source)

Government: "Don't Panic.."

Manila (AFP) - A foreigner who flew to the Philippines from the Middle East has become the second confirmed case of MERS in the country, the health department said Monday, as a deadly outbreak in South Korea spreads alarm across Asia.

The 36-year-old male patient, whose nationality was not disclosed, has been put in isolation at a government facility to contain the virus, Health Secretary Janette Garin said.

"We can see he is getting better," Garin told a news conference, adding the man had a "low viral load" indicating his infection was not extremely serious.

"There is no reason to panic and we appeal to the public to respect the privacy of the patient."

The man fell ill on July 2, having earlier arrived in the country from Saudi Arabia by way of Dubai, (UAE) she said, declining to give more details.

In South Korea, which is suffering the worst outbreak of MERS outside Saudi Arabia, 185 people have been diagnosed with the disease with 33 fatalities, the government there said.

Of those infected, 41 remain hospitalized, with 11 in a critical condition.

The Philippine health department has been on alert in recent weeks for the possible entry of the virus that causes the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, particularly among the 88,000 South Koreans living in the country.

[Selkie]

I sometimes wonder if I might have had MERS when I was in Spain. I got sick with a terrible sinus infection and then my lungs filled with fluid and for days I coughed up the most amazing amount of totally gross stuff. And it happened after a trip to a mall in Algeciras, no less.

addition I just remembered that I took antibiotics, which seemed to work. So whatever I had, it could not have been MERS because MERS is a virus.

[Bob]

Posted by Silkie (here)
I sometimes wonder if I might have had MERS when I was in Spain. I got sick with a terrible sinus infection and then my lungs filled with fluid and for days I coughed up the most amazing amount of totally gross stuff. And it happened after a trip to a mall in Algeciras, no less.

What I noticed was cough, sneezing, and a type of "rales" like sound, like crunching cellophane plastic when breathing.. and the fluid build-up.. SARS will create similar types of symptoms. Fungal viral and bacterial combined infections make things worse.. I suppose what amazed me was the absolutely LACK of support from hospital medical staff, disinterest like ... Compassion, hardly. More like a body shop - the hospital preferred to play an announcement when a new baby was born.. (into the system) laced with the "code blue" messages now and then.

MERS sticks around, can have 14 days incubation period.

Update to post 123 above:

A 50-year-old cancer patient, who was diagnosed with the disease last Saturday in South Korea (Seoul), is the 186th person confirmed to have been infected with MERS in the country. She is the wife of a 55-year-old MERS patient who caught the disease on June 12, but he was discharged after making a full recovery last Thursday, reported The Korea Herald.

The woman was quarantined for 14 days after her husband was found to be infected.

The Anomaly

The MERS infection in South Korea in the woman took place a week after she was released from precautionary quarantine.

That was 21 days after being isolated from her husband. The disease is thought to have a maximum dormancy period of 14 days.

[Bob]

South Korea reported another death from complications from MERS

(Source)

South Korea has reported its 34th death from the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and has said there have been no new cases surfacing in three days.

Stats: 186 diagnosed, 33 remain in hospital with 119 discharged after they recovered.

[Bob]

MERS inoculation for humans on the horizon -

( source )

It works by amping up the immune system to generate antibodies against MERS and thereby build up immunity. It has been tested in animals so far.

There is a significant recent increase in MERS cases. This increase is coupled with the lack of effective antiviral therapies or vaccines.That there is no proper way to treat or prevent this infection has raised significant concern. Accordingly the development of a vaccine for MERS became high priority.

David B. Weiner, PhD, a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and colleagues were on the job. They have produced a novel synthetic DNA vaccine. It can induce protective immunity against the MERS coronavirus in animal species. This happened for the first time.

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania noted this. The experimental, preventive vaccine, given six weeks before exposure to the MERS virus. And it was found to fully protect rhesus macaques from disease.

The vaccine also generated potentially protective antibodies in blood drawn from camels. Camels are the purported source of MERS transmission in the Middle East. (Studies have also shown that goats can transmit such to humans - mentioned earlier in this thread).

The successful results indicate that this vaccine could used to break MERS transmission cycle. The researchers claim that this vaccine could decrease person-to-person spread of infection. And it can stop MERS to become an outbreak. And it can also help to protect health care workers or exposed individuals.

[Bob]

There has not been a case of MERS in Korea since July.

But rather suddenly, the virus has picked up activity in the country where it got started, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And that’s a concern, because in a month, Saudi Arabia will host millions of temporary visitors from all over the world, making the obligatory pilgrimage known as the hajj.

Earlier in the MERS outbreak, there was international criticism that the Saudi Kingdom’s government was being parsimonious with information about where the infection was going.


As a result, the Saudi Ministry of Health now makes near-daily online reports of any MERS cases.

Beginning in June, things had been quiet, with no new cases reported, or at most, one per week. And then, in mid-July, the numbers began to tick up again: two cases on July 13, one on July 16, one on July 21, two on July 22, 2 on July 23, and so on. There has been at least one case every day since Aug. 3, usually more—altogether, 76 new confirmed cases this month.

The new run of cases is centered in one city and one hospital: King Abdulaziz Medical City, in Riyadh, the capital. This is important because, in the original MERS cases, and also in the recent Korean outbreak, hospitals were the nexus of infection, the place where the virus was exchanged between sick people, healthy companions and family members, and healthcare workers.

Dr. Keiji Fukuda, an assistant director general of the WHO, said of the Korean outbreak in June: “In some instances there was close and prolonged contact between people who had infection and people who did not have infection, so for example other patients, visitors, healthcare workers in emergency rooms, so under crowded conditions and for prolonged periods of time.”

According to Agence France Presse earlier this week, the hospital has closed its emergency department, hoping to prevent cycling of the illness from infected to uninfected people. But, according to the daily records on the Ministry site, most of the people becoming infected are not hospital personnel.

The concern once again is what will happen at the annual Hajj.

The fretting about possible MERS transmission during the hajj is not new: It has been a concern every year since the disease was first identified. For the first three of those years, the world has been fortunate, and we can hope that will be true this year as well.

But there is still no specific treatment for MERS and no rapid test, and a potential vaccine is in the earliest stages of research. The inoculation described in the previous post is working in primates, but has not been tested (yet) in human beings.

For those of us outside Saudi Arabia, there isn’t much to do except keep watching the numbers, and hope.

[Bob]

those camels...

Symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness in breath. It can also cause pneumonia and kidney failure. Nearly 40% of those infected have died. Most already had an underlying medical problem.

It is unclear exactly how it passes from camels to people. Scientists say it is probably via secretions from the nose and mouth of infected animals. Raw camel milk could also carry the virus.
The WHO says anyone working closely with camels should wear protective gear like masks and gloves. It also says people should avoid drinking raw camel milk.

(Source)

I've gotten this MERs disease a couple years ago when it was first reported, and it is no ride in the park, taking about 6 months to shake using all the alternative techniques. I had no contact with camels, or camel products, but I did pick it up in the mideast, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

WHO says it still considers Mers a "public health concern".

"There are lot of "unknowns" in our understanding of the origin of the virus causing the disease, transmission mode of the virus as well as the behavioural risk factors that may result in infection," said WHO spokesperson Rana Sidani.

Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) - Saudi Arabia on Friday banned the slaughter of camels during this year's hajj pilgrimage, after a surge in deaths from the MERS virus linked to the animals.

Camels will not be allowed to enter the holy sites of Mecca and Medina, the Permanent Committee for Fatwa said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Hundreds of thousands of faithful from around the world have begun to gather for the annual hajj, which is expected to begin on September 21.

[Selkie]

Posted by Bob (here)

those camels...

Symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness in breath. It can also cause pneumonia and kidney failure. Nearly 40% of those infected have died. Most already had an underlying medical problem.

It is unclear exactly how it passes from camels to people. Scientists say it is probably via secretions from the nose and mouth of infected animals. Raw camel milk could also carry the virus.
The WHO says anyone working closely with camels should wear protective gear like masks and gloves. It also says people should avoid drinking raw camel milk.

(Source)

I've gotten this MERs disease a couple years ago when it was first reported, and it is no ride in the park, taking about 6 months to shake using all the alternative techniques. I had no contact with camels, or camel products, but I did pick it up in the mideast, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

WHO says it still considers Mers a "public health concern".

"There are lot of "unknowns" in our understanding of the origin of the virus causing the disease, transmission mode of the virus as well as the behavioural risk factors that may result in infection," said WHO spokesperson Rana Sidani.

Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) - Saudi Arabia on Friday banned the slaughter of camels during this year's hajj pilgrimage, after a surge in deaths from the MERS virus linked to the animals.

Camels will not be allowed to enter the holy sites of Mecca and Medina, the Permanent Committee for Fatwa said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Hundreds of thousands of faithful from around the world have begun to gather for the annual hajj, which is expected to begin on September 21.

Its weird they that they know its carried by camels, and yet they can only say that it "probably" is passed via camel nose/mouth secretions, or that raw camel's milk "could" carry the virus. All they have to do is culture it to find out.

p.s. Viruses can be cultured in chicken eggs, but these days, they often culture them in cell cultures.

[Bob]

MERS in Jordan - "No History of Exposure.." noted but yet shown as infected..

Disease outbreak news
1 October 2015

Between 21 and 23 September 2015, the National IHR Focal Point of Jordan notified WHO of 4 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including 1 death.

Details of the cases

A 29-year-old, male health care worker from Amman city Jordan, developed symptoms on 15 September.

After attending the emergency room of the hospital where he works, the patient was treated symptomatically and sent home. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 20 September and was admitted to hospital. Currently, he is in stable condition in a negative pressure isolation room on a ward. The patient provided care to a laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV case (see DON published on 18 September – case no. 2). He has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms.

A 60-year-old male from Amman city developed symptoms on 10 September and, on 15 September, was admitted to hospital. The patient, who has comorbidities, tested positive for MERS-CoV on 20 September. Currently, he is in stable condition in a negative pressure isolation room on a ward. The patient visited a hospital in which a laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV case had received care. Investigation of possible epidemiological links with the hospitalized MERS-CoV case or with the health care workers who took care of the case is ongoing. The patient has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms.

A 69-year-old female from Amman city was admitted to hospital on 7 September due to a cardiovascular condition. The patient, who had comorbidities, was discharged from hospital on 16 September. On 17 September, she developed symptoms and, on the same day, was admitted to another hospital. The patient tested positive for MERS-CoV on 22 September and, on the same day, passed away. Investigation of possible epidemiological links with the MERS-CoV case in the first hospital or with shared health care workers is ongoing. The patient had no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms.

A 39-year-old, female health care worker from Amman city, who was identified through contact tracing, tested positive for MERS-CoV while asymptomatic on 23 September. Currently, she is still asymptomatic in home isolation. The patient, who has no comorbidities, provided care to a laboratory-confirmed case (see DON published on 18 September – case no. 2). She has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms.

Contact tracing of household and healthcare contacts is ongoing for these cases.

Globally, WHO has been notified of 1,593 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including at least 568 related deaths.

WHO advice

Based on the current situation and available information, WHO encourages all Member States to continue their surveillance for acute respiratory infections and to carefully review any unusual patterns.

Infection prevention and control measures are critical to prevent the possible spread of MERS-CoV in health care facilities. It is not always possible to identify patients with MERS-CoV early because like other respiratory infections, the early symptoms of MERS-CoV are non-specific.

Therefore, health-care workers should always apply standard precautions consistently with all patients, regardless of their diagnosis.

Droplet precautions should be added to the standard precautions when providing care to patients with symptoms of acute respiratory infection; contact precautions and eye protection should be added when caring for probable or confirmed cases of MERS-CoV infection; airborne precautions should be applied when performing aerosol generating procedures.

Until more is understood about MERS-CoV, people with diabetes, renal failure, chronic lung disease, and immunocompromised persons are considered to be at high risk of severe disease from MERS‐CoV infection. Therefore, these people should avoid close contact with animals, particularly camels, when visiting farms, markets, or barn areas where the virus is known to be potentially circulating. General hygiene measures, such as regular hand washing before and after touching animals and avoiding contact with sick animals, should be adhered to.

(Source: WHO)

[bettye198]

I see the title MERS, but I tend to understand it as MERSA. Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus. There is also VERSA, Vancomycin Resistant Staph Aureus. I was a nurse but we did not know about that, but since my Mom contracted it in the hospital ( yes that is the prime locale) I grew to understand much with all the infection control Doctors. As bad as this is, we have other problems on the horizon. Morgellons, some say is parasitic, others say it is a type of alien parasitic techno, horrible horrible. Then every new morphed superbug coming from the Chemtrail skies and what is infused in our soil, food and water.

[Bob]

Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus is different from VIRAL corona-virus MERS. M.E.R.S. the subject of this thread, is " Middle East Respiratory Syndrome ", a virus which causes intense pneumonia, flooding of the airways, making the ability to absorb oxygen and clear CO2 extremely difficult. The person drowns in their own secretions as the body desperately tries to clear the foreign viral particles from the body. It is infectious, able to spread by contact with droplets which can be on clothes, objects..

[Bob]

Cleared of MERS virus in May, it reappears - HOW?

We've heard of EBOLA re-appearing in a cleared individual (see Ebola thread)..

Now we are hearing of a person cleared of MERS having what appears to be a relapse of the virus which was GONE from their system before but now has re-appeared in the person.

SEOUL: A South Korean man believed cured of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has been rediagnosed with the deadly virus, health officials said Tuesday. The diagnosis deals a blow to Seoul’s hopes of being declared free of a disease that has infected 186 people in South Korea, killing 36 of them, since its outbreak in May. World Health Organization standards call for a four-week waiting period after the last MERS patient fully recovers before an outbreak can be said definitively to be over. MERS is believed to have originated in camels in the Middle East. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath.

The 35-year-old man was initially diagnosed in May, and released from hospital on October 3 after twice testing negative for the virus.

But he was readmitted with a fever on Sunday and diagnosed with MERS Monday, the health ministry said in a statement.

Officials said doctors detected virus genes in his system, but could not confirm whether it was a fresh case or if the previous infection had returned.

(Source)

[bettye198]

Thank you for clarifying that, Bob. A bit confusing with the acronym.

[Bob]

MERS virus found in Nigerian Camels - but not bats

I remember when the circus came to town - everyone wanted to ride the camels, the elephants.. oye..

Two studies exploring potential reservoirs for MERS-CoV found evidence that the virus is widespread in camels in Nigeria but not in bats in Egypt and Lebanon.

The Nigerian study, published today in Eurosurveillance, noted that RNA of MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) indicated that the virus infecting camels there is distinct from strains in the Middle East, where most human cases have occurred. The virus has been previously identified in dromedary camels in the Middle East as well as in several African nations.

And in the bat study, published yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases, researchers identified other coronaviruses in various samples from wild bats, but not MERS-CoV.

About 95% of camels seropositive..

"Both of the Nigerian virus groups were distinct from previously known virus lineages," they wrote.

"The Nigerian camel viruses were most closely related to virus NRCE-HKU270 previously found in Egypt with 'nt' sequence similarity of 99.3 to 99.6%.

MERS-CoV in Nigeria were genetically distinct from viruses found in camels in the Middle East and viruses detected in humans in more recent years (nt sequence similarity ranging from 98.4 to 99.4%)."

821 bats were captured and studied, and the average was 5% were testing POSITIVE.

The moral of the story - DON'T eat the bats, and CERTAINLY don't kiss the camel ! ( Hear that BZ

(Source)

[Bob]

MERS being tested for in TURKEY hospital. 25 Dec 2015

The emergency ward of a state hospital in eastern province of Van was quarantined after a person appeared at the hospital with symptoms resembling those of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus.

The 42-year-old man, whose identity has not been revealed, was taken to Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Hospital on Friday with symptoms of coughing and high fever.

The emergency ward of the hospital was quarantined after the man, who reportedly works as a worker in Antalya and recently came to Van, was suspected of carrying MERS virus.

MERS hasn't really dropped out of sight. The virus has also been imported by travelers to at least 25 countries worldwide. It kills about 38 percent of those it infects.

(http://www.todayszaman.com/national_...ed_408002.html)

[Bob]

Zoonosis a demonstration thereof... (sigh)

INSANITY ?

[Flash]

Have you noticed most of them are tourists kissing the camels!! For g... sake, they are not home pets! And even home pets I do not kiss - and I wash my hands after handfeeding horses!

Ok, I admit, I am disgusted.

Posted by Bob (here)

Zoonosis a demonstration thereof... (sigh)

INSANITY ?

[conk]

Have not read the whole thread. Sorry if already mentioned. Severe cases of infection can be remedied by use of fecal matter implants. The best come from healthy, vaginally delivered infants who are breast feeding. An Infant Fecal Matter Implant in the colon has been shown to kill these nasty pathogens. Many functional MDs are performing this procedure in office. Of course they don't simply insert baby poop into your anus, but you could at home in dire situations and be just as effective. You'd just have to ignore the "ooh, that's gross" reaction. The answer is in the rare colonies of beneficial bacteria that younger people harbor in their intestines. Poor habits as we age kill off these good bugs, but babies are full of them.