• A 28-year-old man has tested positive for the potentially fatal Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Abu Dhabi, the World Health Organisation said.

• Health officials had checked 108 people that he was in contact with, but no secondary infections had turned up so far.

• Since July 2013, when the UAE reported the first case of MERS-CoV, 94 confirmed cases (including this new case) and 12 deaths have been reported. 

• Globally, the total number of confirmed MERS-CoV cases reported to WHO since 2012 is 2,605, including 936 associated deaths.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)

• Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory disease caused by Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS‐CoV) that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

• Humans are infected with MERS-CoV from direct or indirect contact with dromedary camels.

• It is a zoonotic virus, meaning it is transmitted between animals and people, and it is contractable through direct or indirect contact with infected animals.

• MERS-CoV infections range from asymptomatic or mild respiratory symptoms to severe acute respiratory disease and death. 

• Human-to-human transmission is possible, but only a few such transmissions have been found among family members living in the same household.

• Approximately 35 per cent of MERS cases reported to WHO have died.

Symptoms

• A typical presentation of a person with MERS-CoV disease is fever, cough and shortness of breath. Pneumonia is a common finding, but not always present. Gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhoea, have also been reported. 

• The virus appears to cause more severe disease in older people, persons with weakened immune systems and those with chronic diseases such as renal disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, and diabetes. 

• Severe illness can cause respiratory failure that requires mechanical ventilation and support in an intensive care unit resulting in high mortality.

No treatment

• No vaccine or specific treatment is currently available, although several MERS-CoV-specific vaccines and treatments are in development. Treatment is supportive and based on the patient’s clinical condition.

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