Wednesday 30 October 2013

First case of MERS-CoV in Oman...home of antibody-positve camels...[UPDATED]

A new country has described, via the media (quoting Mohamed bin Saif al Hosni, Under-Secretary for Oman's Health Affairs), its first Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) case, the sultanate of Oman. 

It seems that the case was acquired locally from someone infected outside Oman.

  • 68-year old male with diabetes
  • Still no detail on the supposed confirmed case he was in contact with or the test type or date of hospitalization
  • The Oman Ministry of Health website has not officially confirmed the case at this stage. 
  • When confirmed, this will be the 149th confirmed case ("probable" FluTrackers #151)

Oman's Centre for Public Health Laboratory (CPHL) has been testing for MERS-CoV from suspect cases since October 2012 and while prospective laboratory screening of returning Hajj pilgrims was not being undertaken, observation for signs and symptoms of disease was ongoing.

If we remember back to early August, - 50 of 50 retired racing camels from Oman had antibodies to something that was closely related to the MERS-CoV. 

Thanks to Mike Coston, @makoto_au_japon and @Crof for tweets and posts
Thanks to FluTrackers for tweeting & posting the AFP updat

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