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The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia has notified WHO of an additional five laboratory-confirmed cases with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
MERS-CoV was previously named novel coronavirus (VCoV) infection.
All five patients are from the Eastern region of the country, but not from Al-Ahsa, where an outbreak began in a health care facility in April 2013. The patients, 3 males and 2 females had an age range of 56-85 years and all had underlying medical conditions which required multiple hospital visits. The government is conducting investigations into the likely source of infection in both the health care and the community settings.
Globally, from September 2012 to date, WHO has been informed of a total of 49 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 27 deaths.
(Via WHO GAR - accessed 30/05/13)
Advice for Travellers
The risk associated with novel coronavirus to the general UK population remains extremely low and the risk to travellers to the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding countries remains very low.
No travel restrictions are in place, however, travellers who develop severe respiratory symptoms, such as shortness of breath, within ten days of returning from these countries should seek medical advice and mention which countries they have visited.
Advice for Healthcare Professionals
WHO is encouraging all Member States to continue surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI). Until further information becomes available, it should be considered that the virus is likely to be more widely distributed than the countries which have identified cases.
Member States should consider testing of patients with unexplained pneumonias for the new coronavirus even in the absence of travel or other associations with the two affected countries. In addition, any clusters of SARI or SARI in health care workers should be thoroughly investigated regardless of where in the world they occur.
