Health officials in Spain have detected a case of MERS in a woman who
recently returned to the country after attending last month’s Hajj
pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
The Spanish Ministry of Health said the woman was admitted to hospital in Madrid on Nov. 1 and is in stable condition. In its press release, the ministry said it is following up with people who were in contact with her to determine if others have contracted the sickness.
That will likely involve tracking people who travelled on the same plane or planes with the ill woman, who journeyed back to Spain from Saudi Arabia shortly before being hospitalized.
The woman was already experiencing signs of her illness before she left the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a World Health Organization expert said Wednesday.
“She became symptomatic while she was in KSA,” said Dr. Anthony Mounts, the WHO’s point person for the new virus, a cousin of the coronavirus that caused the 2003 SARS outbreak.
“We understand that she did perform the Hajj and came back and was admitted to hospital in Spain and was tested there.”
Mounts did not know if the woman flew on a commercial airline or on one of the charter flights used by many who travel to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, the massive annual international pilgrimage that draws Muslims from around the world to their religion’s most sacred sites, Mecca and Medina.
This year’s Hajj took place from Oct. 13 to 18, though pilgrims started converging on Saudi Arabia in late September and typically many remain in the country for a period afterwards. This woman is believed to have spent most of the month of October in the kingdom.
Countries elsewhere have been on the lookout for illness in their returning pilgrims. In the past couple of weeks there have been a number of false alarms where people ill with flu-like systems were identified as possible MERS cases. But until now, all have tested negative for the virus.
In fact, Mounts said earlier this week he felt the world might soon be able to conclude that the Hajj had not served as a transmission event to spread the virus from Saudi Arabia — which has recorded 125 of the 151 confirmed cases — to other parts of the globe.
On Wednesday, he said it may be too soon to conclude that yet.
“I think it does give us pause,” he said of the case. “I think it means that we really do have to wait a little while longer before we’re sure we’re out of danger.” http://metronews.ca/news/world/846723/spain-has-first-mers-case-woman-went-to-hajj/
The Spanish Ministry of Health said the woman was admitted to hospital in Madrid on Nov. 1 and is in stable condition. In its press release, the ministry said it is following up with people who were in contact with her to determine if others have contracted the sickness.
That will likely involve tracking people who travelled on the same plane or planes with the ill woman, who journeyed back to Spain from Saudi Arabia shortly before being hospitalized.
The woman was already experiencing signs of her illness before she left the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a World Health Organization expert said Wednesday.
“She became symptomatic while she was in KSA,” said Dr. Anthony Mounts, the WHO’s point person for the new virus, a cousin of the coronavirus that caused the 2003 SARS outbreak.
“We understand that she did perform the Hajj and came back and was admitted to hospital in Spain and was tested there.”
Mounts did not know if the woman flew on a commercial airline or on one of the charter flights used by many who travel to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, the massive annual international pilgrimage that draws Muslims from around the world to their religion’s most sacred sites, Mecca and Medina.
This year’s Hajj took place from Oct. 13 to 18, though pilgrims started converging on Saudi Arabia in late September and typically many remain in the country for a period afterwards. This woman is believed to have spent most of the month of October in the kingdom.
Countries elsewhere have been on the lookout for illness in their returning pilgrims. In the past couple of weeks there have been a number of false alarms where people ill with flu-like systems were identified as possible MERS cases. But until now, all have tested negative for the virus.
In fact, Mounts said earlier this week he felt the world might soon be able to conclude that the Hajj had not served as a transmission event to spread the virus from Saudi Arabia — which has recorded 125 of the 151 confirmed cases — to other parts of the globe.
On Wednesday, he said it may be too soon to conclude that yet.
“I think it does give us pause,” he said of the case. “I think it means that we really do have to wait a little while longer before we’re sure we’re out of danger.” http://metronews.ca/news/world/846723/spain-has-first-mers-case-woman-went-to-hajj/