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The National IHR Focal Point of the Islamic Republic of Iran has reported a new laboratory-confirmed case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection (MERS-CoV).
The case is a 67-year-old woman from Kerman Province. The woman had been treated in hospital for a chronic lung condition but was re-admitted with severe acute respiratory symptoms on 25 June 2014. The patient was laboratory-confirmed with MERS-CoV on 5 July 2014 and died on the same day. There was no history of travel and no known history of contact with animals or consumption of raw camel milk products in the 14 days prior to becoming ill. During the first hospitalisation, however, there was close contact with another patient with severe acute respiratory infection.
Globally, 837 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV including at least 291 related deaths have officially been reported to WHO.
(Via Global Alert and Response - accessed 24/07/14)
The current Rapid Risk Assessment by ECDC is unchanged in that, the risk of MERS-CoV infection for Europeans visiting or residing in the region is low, and secondary transmission in the EU from imported cases is low.
Although the source of the virus and the mechanism of transmission is unknown, it would be prudent to try to reduce the general risk of infection while travelling by:
• Avoiding close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections.
• Frequent handwashing, especially after direct contact with ill people or their environment.
• Adhering to food safety and hygiene rules such as avoiding undercooked meats, raw fruits and vegetables unless they have been peeled, or unsafe water.
• People at high risk of severe disease due to MERS-CoV should avoid close contact with animals when visiting farms or barn areas where the virus is known to be potentially circulating. For the general public, when visiting a farm or a barn, general hygiene measures, such as regular hand washing before and after touching animals, avoiding contact with sick animals should be adhered to.
• People with symptoms of acute respiratory infection should practice cough etiquette (maintain distance, cover coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing, and wash hands) and to delay travel until they are no longer symptomatic.
Travellers to the Middle East who develop symptoms either during travel or after their return are encouraged to seek medical attention and to share their history of travel.
Consider the possibility of MERS-CoV infection in travellers with fever, cough, shortness of breath, or breathing difficulties, or other symptoms suggesting an infection, and with a recent history (within 14 days) of travel in the Middle East.
If a diagnosis of MERS–CoV infection is considered possible, apply infection prevention and control measures recommended by WHO, or outlined in national guidance, and refer the patient to a special infectious disease unit for further investigation.
