WHO Confirms MERS In UAE-Based Man And Expects More Cases

FILE PHOTO: According to the WHO, from the last date of exposure to the MERS-CoV patient, all 108 identified contacts were monitored for 14 days

A 28-year-old man in the United Arab Emirates has been diagnosed with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), according to the World Health Organisation. The last MERS-CoV infection detected in the UAE was in November 2021. This year, on July 10, the UAE notified the global health body of the first virus case in the country.

The man infected with MERS-CoV visited a private medical centre multiple times between June 3 and 7; he complained of dysuria (pain when passing urine), right flank pain and vomiting.

He went to a government hospital on June 8 with vomiting, and gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhoea; he was given an initial diagnosis of acute pancreatitis, acute kidney injury, and sepsis.

By June 13, he was in critical condition. Later, he was referred to an intensive care unit (ICU) at a specialised government tertiary hospital where he was put on mechanical ventilation.

Unfortunately, a nasopharyngeal swab collected on June 21 tested positive for MERS-CoV by PCR on June 23 and his condition deteriorated.

Surprisingly, the infected man from Al Ain city in Abu Dhabi had no history of direct or indirect contact with dromedaries (camels), sheep or goats, with a non-healthcare worker and did not recently travel anywhere outside the UAE.

A viral respiratory infection caused by a coronavirus, MERS is a viral respiratory infection. Humans can get infected with MERS-CoV through direct or indirect contact with dromedary camels, who are the zoonotic source and natural host of the MERS-CoV infection.

Hitherto, the observed non-sustained human-to-human transmission has occurred in healthcare settings and among close contacts. There has been limited human-to-human transmission outside of the healthcare setting.

Therefore, it is “important to sequence the virus and conduct genomic analysis to screen for any unusual patterns”, said the WHO. The world health body noted that the process for genomic analysis has begun to identify any possible “genetic evolution of the virus”.

According to the WHO, from the last date of exposure to the MERS-CoV patient, all 108 identified contacts were monitored for 14 days.

The WHO said in a statement that although to date, “no secondary cases have been detected”, it “expects that additional cases of MERS-CoV infection will be reported from the Middle East and/or other countries where MERS-CoV is circulating in dromedaries”.

The WHO added, “Cases will continue to be exported to other countries by individuals who were exposed to the virus through contact with dromedaries or their products (for example, consumption of camel’s raw milk), or in a healthcare setting.”

The first case of MERS-CoV in the UAE was detected in 2013.

Till now, 12 deaths have been reported and the country has 94 confirmed cases (including the new case). Across the world, the total number of confirmed MERS-CoV cases is 2,605, including 936 associated deaths, according to the WHO.

Although several MERS-CoV-specific vaccines and treatments are in development, no vaccine or specific treatment is currently available.