Saudi Schools allowed early summer break

Schools allowed early summer break

The school summer vacation will start from 3/8/1435H, corresponding to June 1, according to a circular issued by the Ministry of Education to all schools. Khaled Al-Ghamdi of the ministry said the schools can announce summer vacation for students from June 1. Earlier the ministry circular had said that the summer vacation will start from June 19.
Many international and Saudi schools started their final exams on Sunday, especially for kindergarten, so as to complete the current session by May end or first week of June.
School authorities came under tremendous pressure from parents and teachers to close the schools early because of MERS coronavirus scare. But the ministry didn’t relent and ordered them to create a special room with equipment and doctors to meet the CoV threat.
The schools are conducting annual exams according to their academic schedule for small children but some said that they started the exams for all the grades to finish it at once.
“We started exams of kindergarten (KG) and grades 1 to 3 according to our academic schedule and instruction of the ministry to finish them on time, as now its examination time for all schools, and many of the international schools started their exams for lower grades as well as higher grades today,” said Sadia Kalim, principal of Al Hukma International Schoo.
She said that their academic year will end in the first week of June as per their earlier plan.
Hera Talib, a parent, told Arab News that Wadi International School also started exams for all the grades on Sunday. For higher grades they used to start late but this year they are taking all the exams at once to be on the safe side and finish all together by June 3.
Sahar Khan, a teacher, said that in her school the children of KG and grades 1 to 3 are already on vacation after finishing their academic session. From next week, exams for higher grades will start and the school will close on June 6 for summer vacation. http://www.arabnews.com/news/573201

Palestinian Health Minister: We recommend not to go for the pilgrimage because of the "Corona"

 05/19/2014 - Last updated: 00:18

The media quoted a Palestinian on Sunday evening for the Palestinian Health Minister, Dr. Jawad Awad, his assertions regarding the absence of Palestine from the virus Corona killer, which is spread in Saudi Arabia, as he emphasized his fears of visiting the most friction in Palestine, such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and advised not to go to perform Hajj this year for those who suffer of private health conditions.

He appealed to the Minister of Health, the elderly, children and those suffering from chronic diseases and immune deficiencies, not to go to perform Umrah or Hajj, because it poses a serious threat to them.

The minister said that his ministry Awad started distributing awareness leaflets on the border with Jordan, especially in the break Jericho, in addition to the intention of the ministry's intention to deploy medical teams as necessary.

The two ministers explained the symptoms of HIV infection serious take between five to 14 days, a sufficient period of time to a large extent for an infected person to move to the other side of the world without being the discovery of illness.

Awad stressed that so far the situation is under control and did not discover any case infected with the virus, but we recommend children under 12 years old and seniors over 65, pregnant women and impaired immune not go to Hajj this year, for their own safety. "And

He noted that the World Health Organization will hold a conference on the subject in Cairo soon to discuss ways of semen taken to combat the virus. He continued: Statistics indicate significant progress in our immunization systems where the ministry bought drugs vaccinated for the current year at $ 70 million dollars http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.arabs48.com%2F%3Fmod%3Darticles%26ID%3D108469

2 Umrah Pilgrims Allegedly Infected Treated MERS Intensive

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, Bandar Lampung - Two Umrah pilgrims in intensive care at the General Hospital of Abdul Moeloek Lampung Province, suspected of virus-Middle East Respitatory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

"Previously we had received three patients suspected of having the virus MERS, they are Umrah pilgrims from three districts in Lampung Province, from Bandar Lampung and Metro East. Trio with male gender lakil two men and one woman," said Dr. Nina Marlina one of the doctors Regional General Hospital Abdul Moeloek (RSUDAM) that handles these patients, in Bandarlampung on Sunday.
He said, all three having symptoms such as high fever and dipernafasan at body temperature, the same characteristics as the patient virus MERS. Characteristics of the virus such as high temperature and cough.
"Two people are under treatment, because this is a new possibility that patients exposed to viruses from the Middle East. Patients over age 40 years, some even over 50 years comes from the Metro," he said.
One patient explained, female from Bandarlampung been discharged because based on the examination, otherwise negative. Previously these patients, came on Friday (25/4) and return on Friday (16/5).
He reveals, for the other two patients was conducted by a team of intensive care doctors. Including the examination of blood samples, saliva and lung X-ray. "We are awaiting lab results from both patient examination, if otherwise it will be immediately sent back negative," he said.
To anticipate the addition of Dr. Nina patients revealed no fever for residents who may not be treated in isolation, but for patients who have a fever will be treated in a special room. Because the virus is new and also harm to the patient.
"If the patient is not fever may not be treated in isolation," he said. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.republika.co.id%2Fberita%2Fnasional%2Fumum%2F14%2F05%2F18%2Fn5ry3x-2-jamaah-umrah-diduga-terinfeksi-mers-dirawat-intensif%3Futm_source%3Ddlvr.it%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter

Umrah Pilgrims Died In Plane, MERS-CoV Unrelated

Published: Sunday, May 18, 2014 7:11 PM

KUALA LUMPUR: An elderly woman died in a flight back from Umrah with my family last Friday.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said initial autopsy results, however, find 89-year-old woman was negative infections Respiratory Syndrome Virus Middle East Korona (MERS-CoV), but develop pneumonia.
He is said to have shortness of breath on a flight from Jeddah to Kuala Lumpur before died.
According to Dr Noor Hisham, the assembly of fever, cough and shortness of breath for three days while in the holy land and never get treatment while there.
"Family members also said he suffered from asthma, high blood pressure and heart disease as well as being in treatment before performing Umrah," he said in a statement Sunday.
He said he is awaiting final autopsy results to determine the exact cause of death of the woman.
"As a preventive measure all 107 passengers and 12 crew on board the aircraft along the woman underwent screening MERS-CoV," he said.
Three of them suffered mild fever, while another cough and four of them are given symptomatic treatment as well advised to follow-up if not cured within 14 days of the arrival date.
This is the second incident and congregations involved sindorm certified free of diseases that can be fatal.
Malaysia recorded the first death due to MERS-CoV on 13 April when 54-year-old man died following a severe pneumonia was infected with the virus.
The man who hails from Batu Pahat, Johor Umrah in March and complained of fever and difficulty in breathing for about 10 days after returning home and put into Hospital Sultanah Nora Ismail, Batu Pahat, Johor on April 10. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mstar.com.my%2Fberita%2Fberita-semasa%2F2014%2F05%2F18%2Fumrah-meninggal%2F

Saudi Arabia’s $16 billion religious tourism at risk with Mers outbreak

May 18, 2014
 Saudi Arabia’s US$16 billion religious tourism industry could be hampered by a worsening of the Mers outbreak, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has warned.

The bank predicted little macroeconomic impact on the kingdom in the near term, but it remained watchful for further developments if the contagion spread further.
“Most of the potential adverse impact is likely to fall on consumption and on export of services related to tourism – religious tourism, particularly,” wrote Jean-Michel Saliba, an economist at the bank.
“Increased uncertainty may pose further headwinds on a recovering Saudi consumer after the labour market reform shock.”
First identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome is a deadly virus that has so far caused 163 deaths in the kingdom. The UAE, Egypt, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United States have also reported cases, mainly linked to people who had visited Saudi Arabia.
...
The World Health Organisation has so far not deemed Mers threatening enough to declare a global health emergency, a move that might include travel and trade restrictions. But it is likely to change its assessment if the virus mutates into a strain that transmits more easily from person to person.
Officials are also concerned that a large influx of religious tourists into the kingdom in July during Ramadan and in October during Haj could raise the rate of infection and its geographic reach.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimated that Saudi Arabia’s annual pilgrimage revenues represent 2 per cent of its GDP. The government placed restrictions on travel during last year’s pilgrimage season, pushing tourist levels down to 2 million from 3.2 million the year before.
To gauge the potential economic impact of Mers, the bank drew comparisons with the Sars epidemic, which started in China in 2002 and spread to other countries. Between November 2002 and July 2003, the outbreak of Sars in China caused 8,273 infection cases and 775 deaths in multiple countries, it said.
The Chinese government estimated Sars shaved 0.8 percentage points off annual GDP in 2003. The services sector was worst hit, including tourism, hotels, restaurants, retail and transportation.

http://www.thenational.ae/business/industry-insights/tourism/saudi-arabias-16-billion-religious-tourism-at-risk-with-mers-outbreak#ixzz324uJcLdD

World Health Organization: MERS transmission now serious concern

May 18, 2014 By Tim Burton 

Microscopic picture of virus | PHOTO CREDIT: Wiki Commons

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a serious concern, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), but that doesn’t mean that everyone is taking it seriously.

BIRMINGHAM, UK, May 17, 2014 — The World Health Organization (WHO) met this week to discuss the impact of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) on public health. Their conclusion was that the spread of the MERS corona-virus – which has a fatality rate of almost 30 per cent - has become more serious and urgent.

However, at the same time, WHO said that – for now, at least – the illness does not constitute a global health emergency. “Declaring an emergency is “a major act” that can “raise anxieties,” said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the organization’s assistant director-general for health security. “Despite concerns about the syndrome, researchers have not found any increasing evidence of person-to-person transmissibility,” he said.

From the CNN website:

There have been 571 confirmed cases of MERS, including 171 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. The number of countries with confirmed cases expanded to 18, with a case in the Netherlands, WHO reported Wednesday.

Many of the cases are in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Even without any official worldwide alert, Anne Schuchat, the head of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, acknowledges that “this is a relatively new virus that does have a high fatality rate,”

Authorities haven’t pinned down all the details about how exactly it arose and how it spreads, though Schuchat said, “we don’t have evidence right now that this is airborne … the way the measles virus is.”

“We don’t know as much as we would like so far,” the CDC official and assistant surgeon general in the U.S. Public Health Service told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin on Wednesday. “… But we’re tracking it and trying to understand.”

While the evidence is by no means conclusive, there remains a strong probability that the virus is transmitted to humans by camels. One particular study carried out on Omani camels showed a 100 percent presence of the antibodies developed specifically in response to the MERS corona-virus. Residents of some of the Middle Eastern countries affected, however, show little concern for the possible implications, continuing to organise camel competitions and beauty contests in the United Arab Emirates, and in some cases, as in Saudi Arabia, defiantly posting images of themselves kissing camels on social media.

So why is this important?

Well, for several reasons. MERS is a virus from the same family as SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which killed nearly 800 people worldwide after it first appeared in China in 2002. Like SARS, the virus causes a lung infection, coughing and breathing difficulties, and fever. Additionally, MERS can also lead to rapid kidney failure. There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments for MERS. The disease kills approximately 30 per cent of those infected.

In addition, we are now starting to see incidences of MERS infection in the United States, from people who have recently visited Saudi Arabia. Given that Saudi Arabia attracts millions of people from around the world every year for the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, the probability of the virus spreading beyond the Arabian peninsula increases exponentially, especially if there are no border controls set up to identify travelers who may have an increased risk of infection.

Thirdly, despite the reassurances of Dr. Keiji Fukuda of the WHO, who does not want to declare a global health emergency in case it would “raise anxieties”, it might just be a good idea to heed the maxim “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Although not much is known about this particular virus, one characteristic of viruses is that they mutate, and what could be a relatively harmless virus one day has the capacity to change into something very nasty indeed.

Last but not least, we have the uncomfortable reality that cases of the MERS corona-virus – at the moment – constitute a phenomenon that if not actually exclusive to Muslim countries, is certainly predominant within them. Given the social environment of the twin evils of political correctness and multiculturalism that has been written about in these pages recently, it is possible that serious efforts to prevent a worldwide pandemic could be hindered by cries of “Islamophobia” and “racism” from those on the political spectrum blinded by their own self-righteousness to the point where they become willing to place thousands, if not millions of lives at risk.  http://www.brennerbrief.com/world-health-organization-mers-transmission-now-serious-concern/

Foreign doctors, nurses in Saudi Arabia could take MERS global

Source: Reuters - Sun, 18 May 2014 12:00 PM
 By Sharon Begley
NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - The biggest risk that Middle East Respiratory Syndrome will become a global epidemic, ironically, may lie with globe-trotting healthcare workers.
From Houston to Manila, doctors and nurses are recruited for lucrative postings in Saudi Arabia, where MERS was first identified in 2012. Because the kingdom has stepped up hiring of foreign healthcare professionals in the last few years, disease experts said, there is a good chance the MERS virus will hitch a ride on workers as they return home.
"This is how MERS might spread around the world," said infectious disease expert Dr Amesh Adalja of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
It can take five to 14 days for someone infected with MERS to show symptoms, more than enough time for a contagious person to fly to the other side of the world without being detectable.
Healthcare workers "are at extremely high risk of contracting MERS compared to the general public," Adalja said.
The threat has attracted new attention with the confirmation of the first two MERS cases in the United States. Both are healthcare workers who fell ill shortly after leaving their work in Saudi hospitals and boarding planes bound west.
About one-third of the MERS cases treated in hospitals in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah were healthcare workers, according to the World Health Organization.
Despite the risk, few of the healthcare workers now in, or planning to go to, Saudi Arabia are having second thoughts about working there, according to nurses, doctors and recruiters interviewed by Reuters.
Michelle Tatro, 28, leaves next week for the kingdom, where she will work as an open-heart-surgery nurse. Tatro, who typically does 13-week stints at hospitals around the United States, said her family had sent her articles about MERS, but she wasn't worried.
"I was so glad to get this job," she told Reuters. "Travel is my number one passion."
So far, international health authorities have not publicly expressed concern about the flow of expatriate medical workers to and from Saudi Arabia.
"There is not much public health authorities or border agents can do," said infectious disease expert Dr Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota. "Sure, they can ask people, 'did you work in a healthcare facility in Saudi Arabia,' but if the answer is yes, then what?"
Healthcare workers are best placed to understand the MERS risk, Osterholm said, and "there should be a heightened awareness among them of possible MERS symptoms."
Neither the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nor the Department of Homeland Security responded to questions about whether they were considering monitoring healthcare workers returning to the United States.
SOARING DEMAND
In the last few years, the number of expatriates working in Saudi Arabia has soared, said Suleiman Arabie, managing director of Houston, Texas-based recruiting firm SA International, with thousands now working in the kingdom.
About 15 percent of physicians working in the kingdom are American or European, and some 40 percent of nurses are Filipino or Malaysian, according to estimates by recruiters and people who have worked in hospitals there.
The majority of U.S.-trained medical staff are on one- or two-year contracts, which results in significant churn as workers rotate in and out of Saudi medical facilities.
The Saudi government is building hundreds of hospitals and offering private companies interest-free loans to help build new facilities. Its healthcare spending jumped to $27 billion last year from $8 billion in 2008. Building the hospitals is one challenge, staffing them with qualified personnel is another.
Arabie's firm is trying to fill positions at two dozen medical facilities in Saudi Arabia for pulmonologists, a director of nursing, a chief of physiotherapy and scores more.
Doctors in lucrative, in-demand specialties such as cardiology and oncology can make $1 million for a two-year contract, recruiters said.
Nurses' pay depends on their home country, with those from the United States and Canada earning around $60,000 a year while those from the Philippines get about $12,000, recruiters said. That typically comes with free transportation home, housing, and 10 weeks of paid vacation each year. For Americans, any income under about $100,000 earned abroad is tax-free, adding to the appeal of a Saudi posting.
One Filipina nurse, who spoke anonymously so as not to hurt her job prospects, told Reuters that she was "willing to go to Saudi Arabia because I don't get enough pay here." In a private hospital in Manila, she made 800 pesos (about $18) a day.
"I know the risks abroad but I'd rather take it than stay here," she said. "I am not worried about MERS virus. I know how to take care of myself and I have the proper training."
None of Arabie's potential candidates "have expressed any concern" about MERS. Only one of the hundreds of professionals placed by Toronto-based medical staffing firm Helen Ziegler & Associates Inc. decided to return to the United States because of MERS, it said, and one decided not to accept a job in Jeddah she had been hired for.
Recruitment agencies in Manila have also continued to send nurses to the kingdom since the MERS outbreak, said Hans Leo Cacdac, the head of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. The government advises that returning workers be screened for MERS, Labour and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said this week.
Expat healthcare workers now working in Saudi Arabia feel confident local authorities are taking the necessary steps to combat the spread of MERS in hospitals.
"Just today they came and put up giant posters in our hospital on MERS," said Dr Taher Kagalwala, a pediatrician originally from Mumbai who works at Al Moweh General Hospital in a town about 120 miles from Tai'f city in western Saudi Arabia
"I have not heard of or seen any healthcare workers looking to leave their jobs or return to their countries because of the MERS panic. If it was happening, there would have been gossip very soon." (Reporting by Sharon Begley; additional reporting by Manuel P. Mogato in Manila and Zeba Siddiqui in Mumbai,; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Ross Colvin)  http://www.trust.org/item/20140518115932-xe07d/?source=reHeadlineStory

MERS Appears To Spread With Business-Meeting Contact

May 18, 2014 7:37 AM ET

Audio for this story from will be available at approximately 12:00 p.m. ET.

NPR's Lynn Neary talks to science correspondent Rob Stein about the first human-to-human infection of MERS in the U.S. http://www.npr.org/2014/05/18/313618316/mers-appears-to-spread-with-business-meeting-contact

MERS virus weakened by mutations, researchers found

Published online 6 May 2014

As MERS cases spike in Saudi Arabia, scientists have identified antibodies to neutralize the virus.

Moheb Costandi

Scientists have identified antibodies which neutralize the MERS-Coronavirus, a breakthrough that could lead to a treatment.
MERS, which emerged in Saudi Arabia two years ago, appears to have become more virulent in recent weeks: the kingdom has confirmed a spike of 143 more cases in April alone, raising its total number of infections to 339.
Wayne Marasco and colleagues at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, collaborating with a research team from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, screened a vast selection of human antibodies and identified seven that bind to the MERS-CoV spike protein¹.
The spike protein normally interacts with receptors on the surface of the host cell, allowing the virus to enter so it can replicate. The researchers showed that the seven antibodies they identified prevent this interaction by attaching to one of three different sites within the spike protein receptor-binding region.
They also examined how the virus changes upon exposure to the antibodies, revealing that the same mutations that allow it to evade being detected by them also weakened its ability to replicate.
Another research team, led by Liwei Jiang of Tsinghua University in Beijing, used a different approach. They screened a library of antibody fragments displayed on the surface of yeast cells. They then used a purified version of the MERS-CoV spike protein to identify two monoclonal antibodies that interact with it, and isolated them with magnetic beads².
Last month, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health announced it was discussing the development of a MERS-CoV vaccine with drug companies. These new studies are a step towards developing an effective prophylactic treatment.
Many of the new confirmed MERS cases were among staff at hospitals in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The United States confirmed its first case last week; the patient, a Saudi Arabian who worked in one of the Riyadh hospitals housing MERS patients, was visiting relatives in Indiana, was hospitalized there and is now said to be recovering well. Marasco and his colleagues note that their study "offers the possibility of developing human monoclonal antibody-based immunotherapy, especially for healthcare workers."
"The findings are promising, but it's highly unlikely that these antibodies will make their way to the market soon," says Islam Hussein, a virologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Most likely a cocktail of antibodies will be needed to overcome the emergence of mutants [that] escape from neutralization." http://www.natureasia.com/en/nmiddleeast/article/10.1038/nmiddleeast.2014.114

No effect for on tourism as « Corona »« Jeddah » and « Mecca

Specialize : No effect for « Corona » on tourism as « Jeddah » and « MeccaHouse of Life - 1 hour ago


They attributed not affected Jeddah and Mecca in the rates of uptake of these two cities to high rates of awareness and prevention of the disease among members of Saudi society , in addition to the entry of the month of Ramadan in the middle of summer vacation , when rising rates of turnout to perform Umrah , pointing out that the virus « Corona » did not reach the stage of an epidemic in a civil Jeddah , which like the rest of the diseases that spread in years past , such as avian flu and swine . A member of the Council of the Emirate of Makkah Region Fahd Alovenana : « There will be no effect of the virus « Corona » turnout rates in the area ... http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Falhayat.com%2FArticles%2F2431320%2F%25D9%2585%25D8%25AA%25D8%25AE%25D8%25B5%25D8%25B5%25D9%2588%25D9%2586-%25D9%2584%25D8%25A7-%25D8%25AA%25D8%25A3%25D8%25AB%25D9%258A%25D8%25B1-%25D9%2584%25D9%2580--%25D9%2583%25D9%2588%25D8%25B1%25D9%2588%25D9%2586%25D8%25A7--%25D8%25B9%25D9%2584%25D9%2589-%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25B3%25D9%258A%25D8%25A7%25D8%25AD%25D8%25A9-%25D8%25A8%25D9%2580--%25D8%25AC%25D8%25AF%25D8%25A9--%25D9%2588-%25D9%2585%25D9%2583%25D8%25A9

"WHO": "Corona" does not move touching and mixing .. and we are coordinating with the Kingdom to face

WRONG..

May - 12-2014

An official of the World Health Organization studies have shown that the virus "Corona" does not move touching and mixing unless the patient sneezes and blowing spray him, noting that most of the recorded cases of health workers were caused by failing to take necessary preventive measures.

The Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiological Organization Dr. Jawad quarantined, the Saudi Ministry of Health has asked the organization to provide support and counseling have to face the "Corona", and analyzes it in the world, also called for coordination with my organization of Agriculture and Food, the World Organization for Animal Health in this regard... http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.almaqal.net%2F%3Fp%3D55093

Guard tightened vs MERS-CoV

By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer 8:37 am | Sunday, May 18th, 2014 MANILA, Philippines—Air travelers entering the country through its premiere gateway will be thoroughly screened for the dreaded Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) through the combined efforts of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and the Department of Health (DOH).
The MIAA is the government agency that operates the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia). Its medical division, in coordination with the Bureau of Quarantine under the DOH, has implemented “operational procedures” at the international gateway to prevent the entry of the MERS-CoV virus.
Among the measures are the intensification of surveillance, use of thermal scanners, issuance of health checklists and alert notices to all arriving international passengers, and a mass information campaign about MERS-CoV.
The MIAA’s ambulance will be deployed, along with the bureau’s, to transport people suspected of having MERS-CoV to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City.
“All control measures are in place, personal protective equipment are available, and adequate medical personnel are positioned to ensure that airport stakeholders are safe and protected,” said MIAA public affairs chief Connie Bungag in a statement.
Bungag said that as part of infection control measures, only the DOH is authorized to release information about suspected MERS-CoV cases detected at the airport.
“Only the DOH has the sole authority to divulge information related to the illness, since data related to the subject are evolving every now and then,” Bungag said.
The Bureau of Quarantine, whose office is located near Naia Terminals 1 and 2, would be designated “a restricted area” as part of the measures, she added.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona earlier said that while the Philippines remained MERS-CoV-free, Filipinos, particularly those working in the Middle East where there are cases of the disease, must take precautions.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration last week called on employers and agents of Middle East-based overseas Filipino workers to give them free tests for MERS-CoV prior to their return to the Philippines. http://globalnation.inquirer.net/104646/guard-tightened-vs-mers-cov

...Transmission risk considerations

..Most MERS infections have occurred in the Middle East or have been directly linked to a case in that region. Though sporadic imported cases have been occurring since early in the outbreak, secondary infections have been more rare but did occur after primary cases were detected in the United Kingdom, France, and Tunisia.
Global and national health officials have said the risk of secondary infections is low and limited mainly to people who had unprotected, close contact with MERS patients, such as family members or healthcare workers. Today's CDC announcement raises questions about the level of contact that puts people at risk, with a business meeting presumably reflecting a lower level of contact than a care-giving scenario involving a sick family member or hospital patient.
Swerdlow told reporters that the virus still doesn't appear to spread among humans easily in a sustained way, but he added that aggressive testing will not only help flesh out transmission patterns but also reveal more about what appears to be a broader range of severity for the disease, from no symptoms to severe and sometimes fatal pneumonia. "We don't understand a lot about how the virus is transmitting, so we're casting a wide net, hoping to learn more," he said. "Our most important point is that doctors should be vigilant."
"We don't think this changes the risk to the general public or public health practices," Swerdlow said.
The Illinois man's illness, though considered the third US infection, won't be reflected in the global MERS count, because positive serology results aren't included in the World Health Organization (WHO) case definition for MERS, Swerdlow said.
Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, publisher of CIDRAP News, said one case doesn't change the picture and the event is consistent with other examples of MERS spread.
Though the risk of transmission still appears to be low, he said there's a lot that is still not known about the disease—for example, whether some patients are "super shedders" who are more likely to transmit the disease to others.
"All of us should be more careful to describe the risk to the public," Osterholm said, adding that the message should be balanced and not "oversell" a lack of risk....  http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-persp...s-illinois-man

Illinois Man is Third U.S. MERS Case, CDC Says

N

JIM YOUNG / Reuters 22 minutes
First published May 17th 2014, 3:16 pm

By JoNel Aleccia

A business associate of the man who brought the first case of a mysterious Middle East virus to the U.S. has also tested positive for the disease, though he showed no signs of illness, federal health officials said Saturday.

The new case, the third reported in the U.S., is in an Illinois man who met twice with a health care worker who was hospitalized in Indiana after traveling from Saudi Arabia and was diagnosed May 2 with MERS, or Middle East respiratory syndrome.

The Illinois man had not traveled outside of the U.S. recently and he did not seek or require medical care, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in announcing the new case Saturday. Instead, laboratory tests showed that the man had evidence of the infection in his blood. He continues to feel well, CDC officials said.

“This latest development does not change CDC’s current recommendations to prevent the spread of MERS,” said Dr. David Swerdlow, who is leading the agency’s response to the infection that has sickened more than 570 people and killed 172, mostly in Saudi Arabia. It is formally known as the MERS coronavirus, or MERS-CoV.

“It’s possible that as the investigation continues others may also test positive for the MERS-CoV infection but not get sick,” Swerdlow added in a statement.

The new case was detected as part of efforts by CDC and state health departments to contact everyone connected with the Indiana man and a Florida man who was the second in the U.S. diagnosed with MERS May 11.

In both cases, the men were health care workers who came from Saudi Arabia and traveled on planes and other forms of public transportation to get home. The Indiana case is a health care worker in his 60s who was hospitalized April 28 and then diagnosed with MERS. In the Florida case, the 44-year-old man went to an Orlando emergency room, where he may have exposed others to the virus. None of the MERS cases has been identified.

MERS is spread through close contact, health officials say, and there’s no evidence of sustained transmission in public settings.

That could include contact such as handshakes typical of business gatherings. The Illinois businessman met twice with the Indiana patient just before he was diagnosed with MERS. Local health officials reached out to him and tested him for active infection on May 5, with negative results. But blood samples in a test returned May 16 showed evidence of MERS antibodies, indicating recent infection.

CDC officials are continuing to reach out to, test and monitor people who have come into contact the three U.S. cases. Officials say they have not changed their travel guidelines for U.S. residents heading to the Middle East and urge people to take sensible infection control precausions. The agency recommends that travelers closely monitor their health during and after the trip and report any signs of illness.

Health officials have been evaluating travelers from the Middle East for months and should continue to do so, with extra vigilance about any signs of respiratory illness.

 http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/mers-mystery/illinois-man-third-u-s-mers-case-cdc-says-n108066

Questions about CDA difference about numbers

THE HAGUE - The CDA in parliament sees a difference between the information from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the World Health Organization on the outbreak of the disease numbers.

Photo: Jan van Eijndhoven

The Dutch RIVM reports that the dangerous virus can be transmitted from animals to man almost exclusively while the UN agency WHO says that the majority of human infections have gone to human.
The CDA Minister Edith Schippers (Health) Saturday asked for clarification. According to CDA MP Hanke Bruins Slot, this difference may be of great significance for how to deal with infections.
This week it was announced that the disease in the Netherlands for two people is established. The disease resurfaced in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. Dromedaries are the source of the virus.
The MP also wanted to know whether there are steps to follow for people who make a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Both Dutch patients, family members of each, are infected with the potentially deadly virus during the same trip to Saudi Arabia. They visited a dromedarissenboerderij. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraaf.nl%2Fbinnenland%2F22636508%2F___Opheldering_over_mers-virus___.html

Confirmed three cases of chikungunya fever in Florida

Orlando - Florida health officials invoked the public to take precautions to prevent the spread of chikungunya fever, after being detected in this state the first three cases of this disease which is transmitted by mosquitoes and the still there is no vaccine .
According unveiled Friday the Florida Department of Health , the three cases of this fever are registered to women living in the south and center of the state and who recently traveled to the Caribbean.

A case is a resident of Miami- Dade , 30 , the second a 29 year old woman , a resident of Broward County , and the third infected is a 44- year-old living in Hillsborough County , on the central Florida.
 Health authorities estimate that the travelers might have acquired the virus in the Caribbean and then bringing him to the state, where they could have infected local mosquitoes, which propagate the virus.
"With the large number of people in Florida who travels to and from the Caribbean are monitoring for possible imported cases ," said Carina Blackmore, assistant director of epidemiology of Florida , who called on the population to remain alert and avoid mosquito bites especially now that the rainy and hurricane season approaches .
The first reports of chikungunya occurred in countries in Africa , Asia and the Indian Ocean islands , after which cases in Dominican Republic and other Caribbean countries were recorded.
As reported by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO , in English ) , so far about 300 people have been reported infected with this disease.
" Early detection of symptoms and prevention of mosquito bites help that the disease does not spread ," Blackmore said.
These cases have been detected in the middle of the alert to be issued this week because of the latter Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Middle East ( MERS -CoV ) , detected in a tourist who came to Orlando from Saudi Arabia , and is the second case in the country , according to the authorities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2014/05/16/1750063/confirman-tres-casos-de-fiebre.html

The deaths of 22 heads of camels Hail

Hail: Freeh Ramalli
Tunnel herd of camels exceeded numbering 22 upside yesterday, in Hail, north of the kingdom, while the owner of the camel reported that the cause of the injury may be a virus Corona. And embarked on several government agencies, including a branch of the Ministry of Agriculture in the region to determine the causes of mortality. The Hail did not register yet any injuries Corona disease among humans. For his part, said the owner of the herd rather leisurely Rashidi's "home": he was surprised Bnfogaha this way fast, where he found dead inside his barn and next, making it a province police Salimi in agriculture and allied branch. Rashidi added that it is likely the cause of death for the beauty of being infected with Corona, pointing out that the camel was not hit by any disease, and it takes care of the daily did not notice any change in them, and stressed that he was drinking milk on a daily basis.  http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alwatan.com.sa%2FDefault.aspx%3Fissueno%3D4978

Home Umrah, MERS-CoV Suspect Treated in Hospital Sanglah Bali

Saturday, May 17, 2014 3:15 pm

Illustration (Photo: Okezone) Denpasar - NA (46) citizens of Tuban regency of Badung, Bali treated at Sanglah General Hospital, for allegedly suspect Mers-Cov virus after returning from Umrah worship.

"Patients who were hospitalized Sanglah, seen cider medical symptoms, patients should be assumed that isolated, because it has a history of returning from pilgrimage some time ago," said Head of the Bali Provincial Health Office Ketut Suarjaya in Denpasar, on Friday (05/16/2014) .

The patient's medical symptoms characterized high fever, coughing and shortness of breath. In addition, patients have abnormalities in the heart that needs to be isolated. Patients should be given the appropriate handling procedures anticipate the dangerous virus attacks.

The patient went into Sanglah General Hospital Thursday night May 15, at approximately 22:10 pm after experiencing a fever and cough. Currently, NA treated at room Nusa Indah Sanglah and in monitoring medical team.

Officers have checked the entire neighborhood and family and people who had direct contact with NA

Officers also perform blood sampling for laboratory testing results. Suarjaya Admittedly, during the entire examination of suspects who were treated at Mers virus Sanglah negative result. (Ydh) http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.okezone.com%2Fread%2F2014%2F05%2F17%2F340%2F986143%2Fpulang-umroh-suspect-mers-cov-dirawat-di-rsu-sanglah-bali%3Futm_source%3Ddlvr.it%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter

newly-erected signs warning travelers about MERS

This image, provided by Denver International Airport, shows newly-erected signs warning travelers about the danger of the MERS virus http://www.arabnews.com/news/571651

UAE-Preventive measures for camel handlers announced

Sajila Saseendran / 16 May 2014

Prepared in a question and answer format, the poster explains the relationship between camels and the coronavirus that causes Mers.


The UAE on Thursday announced preventive measures against Mers-CoV recommended for camel breeders and others dealing with camels through tweets sent out by the Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW).
The tweets from the ministry’s twitter handle @MoEWUAE gave out details printed a bilingual poster, apparently prepared to be distributed among camel handlers and others.
Prepared in a question and answer format, the poster explains the relationship between camels and the coronavirus that causes the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and lists out preventive measures.
“Recent studies have found that coronavirus strains in some of the camel samples genetically match the strain that causes the disease in humans. However, until now, there’s no evidence that coronavirus can be transmitted from camels to humans. More research is required to identify how humans are infected and identify sources of infection,” the ministry said.
Tweeting the image of the poster, the ministry also detailed the preventive measures recommended for camel breeders and those in contact with them.
Preventive measures recommended for camel breeders included the following:
* Buying animals from reliable sources and avoiding adding sick animals to the herd; isolating animals that appear to be sick from healthy ones and calling the vet immediately to take necessary measures.
* Eating well-cooked meats, washing hands thoroughly after touching animals, avoiding drinking unpasteurised or unboiled milk, wearing protective clothing and gloves when dealing with camels or suspected animals and slaughtering animals at the abattoir under supervision, are also among the recommendations.
* Additional preventive measures recommended when dealing with camels included avoiding contact with camels if you have a weak immune system or suffer from chronic diseases and avoiding the habit of kissing camels especially camels that are less than one year old.
* Wearing protective clothes, gloves and masks when directly contacting camels that show respiratory signs or nasal discharges was also highlighted.
“Animal products that are well prepared through cooking or pasteurisation are safe to consume,” the ministry reaffirmed in another tweet.
This is the first official announcement from the MoEW on precautionary measures for camel handlers and others coming in contact with the animal. Though the ministry last week announced strict Mers screening for camel shipment from the GCC, there was nothing specifically addressing the handlers of an estimated over 2,50,000 camels in the country.
On May 1, a Khaleej Times report had highlighted that no awareness drive had been launched to educate camel handlers in the UAE. The next day, the newspaper also reported about the need for spreading awareness among tourists who go for camel riding as many of them touch and kiss the camels.  http://www.khaleejtimes.com/nation/inside.asp?xfile=/data/nationhealth/2014/May/nationhealth_May27.xml&section=nationhealth

Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Hospitalized Patients with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV)

• Standard, Contact, and Airborne Precautions Recommended
• Preparedness
• Home Care and Isolation Guidance

Standard, contact, and airborne precautions are recommended for management of hospitalized patients with known or suspected MERS-CoV infection, based on CDC's case definition for patient under investigation. Note that additional infection prevention precautions or considerations may be needed if a MERS-CoV patient has other conditions or illnesses that warrant specific measures (e.g., tuberculosis, Clostridium difficile, multi-drug resistant organisms).
Though these recommendations focus on the hospital setting, the recommendations for personal protective equipment (PPE), source control (i.e., placing a facemask on potentially infected patients when outside of an airborne infection isolation room), and environmental infection control measures are applicable to any healthcare setting.
In this guidance healthcare personnel (HCP) refers all persons, paid and unpaid, working in healthcare settings who have the potential for exposure to patients and/or to infectious materials, including body substances, contaminated medical supplies and equipment, contaminated environmental surfaces, or contaminated air. HCP include, but are not limited to, physicians, nurses, nursing assistants, therapists, technicians, emergency medical service personnel, dental personnel, pharmacists, laboratory personnel, autopsy personnel, students and trainees, contractual personnel, home healthcare personnel, and persons not directly involved in patient care (e.g., clerical, dietary, house-keeping, laundry, security, maintenance, billing, chaplains, and volunteers) but potentially exposed to infectious agents that can be transmitted to and from HCP and patients. This guidance is not intended to apply to persons outside of healthcare settings.
As information becomes available, these recommendations will be re-evaluated and updated as needed. These recommendations are based upon available information (as of May 14, 2014) and the following considerations:

• Suspected high rate of morbidity and mortality among infected patients
• Evidence of limited human-to-human transmission
• Poorly characterized clinical signs and symptoms
• Unknown modes of transmission of MERS-CoV
• Lack of a vaccine and chemoprophylaxis
•  
•  http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/infection-prevention-control.html

Hajj has become a center for the spread of "Corona"

Report reveals: Hajj has become a center for the spread of "Corona" There is no clear plan to deal with it

Date Published: 16/05/2014

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Ramallah - minimum home
In the first investigation to news agency "Associated Press" virus "Corona" and the possibility of spread of the disease through the Hajj, and appeared in the international media, criticized the agency twice the health authorities and the lack of clear plans to deal with the virus in the pilgrimage season, citing the absence of posters warning about the virus at airports, especially Jeddah International Airport, in the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and criticized the lack of any information guidelines or programs warn of disease in public places in Mecca and in the courtyards of the Haram, and was amazed at the lack of any guidance or signals about the disease in my Ministry of Hajj, the Saudi Ministry of Health, and are concerned to serve the pilgrims.

It also shed light on the agency of health facilities in Mecca, and its inability to respond to the deadly virus in the pilgrimage season.

The agency said: "The officials in Saudi Arabia, raising alarm that Saudi Arabia is not doing enough to prevent Mecca from becoming a location and a way to export respiratory virus killer among millions of Muslims from around the world who gathered in the city to perform the pilgrimage."

The report added: Saudi Arabia is struggling to contain the escalation of injuries from pneumonia, the Middle East or "Merz," where the country has seen most of the injuries in all parts of the world so far, more than 500 injured since 2012, and during the past few weeks has accelerated numbers with many of the deaths reported it almost every day, and new infections are often in the double digits.

The report went on: yet Mecca, near the Red Sea coast, the west, has seen fewer cases than other areas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and since the discovery of the first case of the virus, "Corona" in 2012, there was a Mossman of the annual pilgrimage to the city, and there are no cases injury among the pilgrims, where some of the cases that have emerged out of Saudi Arabia, including two in the United States, foreigners returning home from work in the Kingdom of Saudi travelers or abroad. "

The rising number of cases in the UK, what is worrying is the lack of adequate precautions taken in Mecca, which is a hot spot and clear potential for the spread of the disease, according to the report.

Experts say: You need the Saudi Ministry of Health to be moving faster to create more public awareness, promote testing and analysis are more stringent in hospitals and take precautions best among the medical staff, who make up a large proportion of those infected because of unsanitary conditions in health facilities.

The report added: Makkah is witnessing a constant flow of pilgrims throughout the year from all over the world, and their numbers swell during the holy month of Ramadan, which begins in late June

The pilgrimage season - which Islam affirms that it is the duty of all Muslims who are able to perform once in their lives, it brings the crowds more than the magnitude of about two million pilgrims from all over the world, and gather in tight places; they visit to the Kaaba the holiest site in Islam, and other sites around Mecca, where the visit will last about five days and will begin the pilgrimage this year in early October

The report pointed out that most of the pilgrims international arrivals to Mecca come across the nearest international airport in the coastal city of Jeddah, which has seen the largest number of cases, however there are no posters in the airport or the Grand Mosque warns of virus or give visitors information about how to prevent its spread , and that was evident during the recent visit by a reporter, "The Associated Press" through the airport in Jeddah, in the Grand Mosque where roams the pilgrims.

The report added: website of the Ministry of Hajj, which is visited by many pilgrims international For information, does not mention the virus, or the urge to work special precautions, and the website of the Ministry of Health advised people over 65 years old, and children under the age of 12 who are suffering from the postponement of their pilgrimage.

He added the report: Since the beginning of April, saw the Mecca 21 new confirmed case, including the status of one of the pilgrims Turks, and four deaths during the same time period, where there were 114 new cases in Jeddah and 23 deaths, and saw Asia's first case of death due to virus Last month, when a man from Malaysia trip pilgrimage to Mecca and Jeddah from across where he returned in March, and found that he had wounded infected.

The report also pointed out that King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, has replaced the health minister, last month, in a sign of dissatisfaction with efforts to curb the spread of the virus, and visited the new minister Adel Faqih, health workers in Jeddah, and said to them: "The virus is spread among working in the medical field; because hospitals do not take measures in the fight against infection. "

According to Ismail Mohammed, a director of the hospital in Mecca: has been equipped medical facility and the only one in the city of Mecca, King Abdullah Medical to deal with cases infected with the virus.

He said Ismail Mohammed, told the agency: "The Mecca almost free from the virus, but warned that steps should be taken to ensure that it remains so, and the policy of the government to a large extent rely solely on the reaction, and there is a need to further educate the patient and there is no So far, no general trend in anti-virus policy toward the pilgrims. "

He explained Adnan bar, who served for years as director of public health in Mecca, it should be updated and the Ministry of Health to become less bureaucratic because the medical infrastructure in Mecca need to be a quick turnaround, and indeed we did not have enough facilities to provide primary health care to pilgrims.

"The bar:" The current health care system in Mecca does not cover half the necessary services, and fortunately the virus is not contagious too, has been observed to spread from person to person only in close contact, such as family members or workers in the field of health care, who are interested persons injured.

In the same context, according to the report, the WHO said on Wednesday that the virus does not constitute yet global health emergency, in all parts of the world and the World Health Organization has assurances from the 572 case at least, including 173 deaths, with the vast majority in the UK Saudi Arabia 0.160 deaths and 514 confirmed cases since 2012, according to government figures.

The virus often begins with flu-like symptoms but can lead to pneumonia and breathing problems and in severe cases, kidney failure and death, and scientists are not sure exactly how people can be infected with the disease but suspect link with the disease camels.

She sharihan Mufti, need Egyptian She is 61 years old wore a mask surgically blue They roam around the Grand Mosque, which houses the Kaaba, where the visit, her first to Mecca, and she wanted to be cautious, but says the opportunity to pray in the courtyard of the Kaaba dispel any fears about the virus , and she wondered: "Is there anything more beautiful after this? hope to come every year."

المزيد على دنيا الوطن ..  http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alwatanvoice.com%2Farabic%2Fnews%2F2014%2F05%2F16%2F538662.html

Silently among us: Scientists worry about milder cases of MERS

(Reuters) - Scientists leading the fight against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome say the next critical front will be understanding how the virus behaves in people with milder infections, who may be spreading the illness without being aware they have it.
Establishing that may be critical to stopping the spread of MERS, which emerged in the Middle East in 2012 and has so far infected more than 500 patients in Saudi Arabia alone. It kills about 30 percent of those who are infected.
It is becoming increasingly clear that people can be infected with MERS without developing severe respiratory disease, said Dr David Swerdlow, who heads the MERS response team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"You don't have to be in the intensive care unit with pneumonia to have a case of MERS," Swerdlow told Reuters. "We assume they are less infectious (to others), but we don't know."
The CDC has a team in Saudi Arabia studying whether such mild cases are still capable of spreading the virus. Swerdlow is overseeing their work from Atlanta.
They plan to test the family members of people with mild MERS, even if these relatives don't have any symptoms, to help determine whether the virus can spread within a household.
Cases of the disease, which causes coughing, fever and sometimes fatal pneumonia, have nearly tripled in the past month and a half, and the virus is moving out of the Arabian peninsula as infected individuals travel from the region.
Since late April, the first two cases of MERS have been reported on U.S. soil. Dutch officials reported their first two cases this week. Infections have also turned up in Britain, Greece, France, Italy, Malaysia and elsewhere.
Since MERS is an entirely new virus, there are no drugs to treat it and no vaccines capable of preventing its spread. It is a close cousin of the virus that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS, which killed around 800 people worldwide after it first appeared in China in 2002.
Because MERS patients can have "mild and unusual symptoms," the World Health Organization advises healthcare workers to apply standard infection control precautions for all patients, regardless of their diagnosis, at all times.
"Asymptomatic carriers of diseases can represent a major route for a pathogen to spread," said Dr Amesh Adalja of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
"Just think of Typhoid Mary," he said, referring to the asymptomatic cook who spread typhoid fever to dozens of people in the early 20th century.
NOT EVEN A COUGH
Milder symptoms played a role in the second U.S. case of MERS, a man who started having body aches on a journey from Jeddah on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast to the United States.
It took the patient more than a week before he sought help in an emergency department in Orlando, Florida. Once he arrived, he waited nearly 12 hours in the ER before staff recognized a MERS link and placed him in an isolation room. The patient did not have signs of a respiratory infection, not even a cough.[ID:nL1N0O002W]
Dr Kevin Sherin, director of the Florida Department of Health for Orange County, believes that made it less likely that he could spread the infection. Hospital workers have tested negative, but the health department and the CDC are still checking on hundreds of people who might have been in contact with the patient.
A CDC study published earlier this week looked at some of the first cases of MERS that occurred in Jordan in 2012.
Initially, only two people in that outbreak were thought to have MERS. When CDC disease detectives used more sensitive tests that looked for MERS antibodies among hospital workers, they found another seven people had contracted MERS and survived it.
That suggests there may be people with mild cases "that can serve as a way for the virus to spread to other individuals, which makes it a lot harder to control," Adalja said.
Scientists are especially concerned because a lot of recent cases of MERS are among people who did not have contact with animals such as camels or bats that are believed to be reservoirs for the virus.
"If they don't have animal contact, where do they pick it up? Potentially, asymptomatic cases," said Dr Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert from the University of Minnesota.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/16/us-health-mers-research-idUSKBN0DW1LT20140516

World Health Organization: MERS Isn't an Emergency

By Maria Cheng May 14, 2014 12:13PM After a meeting of the World Health Organization's expert group on the Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, it was decided that the virus is not a global health emergency. Some scientists said while MERS technically meets the criteria for a global health emergency, declaring it as such could confuse the public...

..."Calling a global emergency in a world which has a lot of urgent issues going on is a major act," said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, an assistant director-general of WHO, told reporters Wednesday. "You have to have really solid information to say this is a global emergency." Fukuda said there wasn't yet proof of the virus' sustained transmission among people... ..Some scientists said while MERS technically meets the criteria for a global health emergency, declaring it as such could confuse the public. "People might think (WHO) is crying wolf because MERS is still primarily a problem in the Middle East," said Michael Osterholm, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Minnesota who has worked in the Middle East. "But if one of those infected people gets on a plane and lands in London, Toronto, New York or Hong Kong and transmits to another 30 people, everyone will have a different view." On Wednesday, the Netherlands' National Institute for Public Health and the Environment announced its first case of MERS, a man who became infected during a visit to Saudi Arabia. He is now in isolation at a hospital in The Hague...   http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=100002488JPO

Saudis question Makkah preparedness as Mers spreads

Makkah, Saudi Arabia: Officials in Saudi Arabia are raising alarm that the kingdom is not doing enough to prevent Makkah from becoming a route for exporting an often deadly respiratory virus as millions of Muslims from around the world converge on the city to perform pilgrimage at Islam’s holiest site.

The calls have taken on greater urgency as Saudi Arabia struggles to contain a surge in infections from the Middle East respiratory syndrome, or Mers.

The country has seen the most infections worldwide by far — more than 500 since 2012 — and in past weeks the numbers have accelerated with several deaths reported nearly every day and new infections often numbering in the double digits.

So far Makkah, near the western Red Sea coast, has seen fewer cases than other parts of Saudi Arabia....

Experts say the Saudi Health Ministry needs to move faster to create more public awareness, promote more aggressive testing in hospitals and take better precautions among medical staff — who have made up a significant proportion of those infected because of improper conditions.

Makkah sees a constant stream of pilgrims throughout the year from around the world, and their numbers swell during Ramadan, which begins in late June.

The Haj pilgrimage — which Islam says is a duty of all able-bodied Muslims to perform once in their lives — brings even more gigantic crowds: More than 2 million pilgrims from all over the world, packed into the close quarters as they visit the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, and other locations in and around Makkah for a period of around five days. This year, Haj starts in early October.

Also, most of the international pilgrims travel to Makkah through the closest international airport, in the coastal city of Jeddah, which has seen far more cases.

Notably, no posters warning of the virus or giving visitors information on how to prevent its spread are visible through Jeddah airport or at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, where pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba.

The Haj Ministry’s website, which many international pilgrims refer to for information, makes no mention of Mers or special precautions.

The Health Ministry’s website, however, advises people over 65, children under 12 and those who are ill to delay their pilgrimage.

“Makkah is a location for people from all over the world with all kinds of problems that could be spread all over,” said Adnan Al Bar, a member of Saudi Arabia’s top consultative body, the Shura Council, at a recent summit in Jeddah on development in the holy city.

Since the beginning of April, Makkah has seen 21 new confirmed cases — including one Turkish pilgrim — and four deaths.

Over the same time period, there have been 114 new infections in Jeddah and 23 deaths. Asia saw its first Mers death last month, when a Malaysian man who went on pilgrimage to Makkah and passed through Jeddah in March returned home and was found to have been infected.

King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz last month replaced the health minister in a sign of displeasure over efforts to control the virus’ spread.

The new minister, Adel Faqih, visited health workers in Jiddah on Wednesday and told them the coronavirus was spreading in part because hospitals are not taking anti-infection measures.

Only one medical facility in Makkah — the King Abdullah Medical City — is equipped to handle Mers cases, according to Esmail Mohammad, the director-general of another hospital in the city, Umm Al Qura.

“Makkah is almost considered to be free” of the virus, he said. But he warned steps have to be taken to ensure it remains so.

Government policies have largely “only been reactive” greater patient education is needed” and there is still no “overall orientation [of anti-Mers policy] toward the pilgrims.”

Preparations, he said, are only on “an ad hoc basis.”

Al Bar, who served for years as Makkah’s general health director, said the Health Ministry should be overhauled to become less bureaucratic and that Makkah’s medical infrastructure needs a rapid transformation. Already, it does not have enough facilities to provide primary care for pilgrims.

“The current health care system in the Makkah does not cover half of the needed services,” he said.

Fortunately, Mers is not highly contagious — person-to-person spread has been seen only in close contacts, like family members or health care workers who care for an infected person.

The World Health Organisation said Wednesday the virus does not yet constitute a global health emergency. Worldwide, WHO has confirmations of at least 572 cases, including 173 deaths. The vast majority has been in Saudi Arabia — 160 dead and 514 confirmed cases since 2012, according to government figures.

Mers often starts with flu-like symptoms but can lead to pneumonia, breathing problems and in severe cases, kidney failure and death. Scientists are unsure exactly how people are catching Mers but suspect the disease is linked to camels.

Pilgrims are largely undaunted.

Sharihan Abdul Mufti, a 61 year-old Egyptian pilgrim, wore a blue surgical mask around the Grand Mosque that houses the Kaaba.

It is her first time to visit Makkah and she wanted to be careful, but she says the chance to pray at the base of the Kaaba supersedes any concerns about the virus.

“Is there anything more beautiful after this?” she said. “I hope to come every year.”  http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudis-question-makkah-preparedness-as-mers-spreads-1.1333605

CDC in KSA

Riyadh, Rajab 12, 1435, May 11, 2014, SPA -- Eng. Adel bin Mohammed Faqih, acting minister of health, received here yesterday a delegation a US federal Agency "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention" within the framework of global efforts to limit spread of virus Corona.
In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Eng. Faqih said that the Health Ministry deals with a number of international organizations and agencies for efforts' coordination in combating spread of the virus in the Kingdom and the world.
For his part, the spokesperson of the US center said that the US team will work with the Kingdom's specialists for conducting more scientific researches.

--SPA
18:46 LOCAL TIME 15:46 GMT  http://www.spa.gov.sa/English/details.php?id=1231173