Saudi Arabia reports 9 MERS cases, Most in Riyadh
The Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) reported nine cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection from March 1 to April 21 this year, including two fatalities.
The cases were reported from the Hail (1) and Riyadh (8) regions of Saudi Arabia.
Among the nine cases, a cluster of seven cases were identified in Riyadh, including six health and care workers who acquired the infection from caring for a single infected patient. These cases were asymptomatic or showed only mild symptoms.
Of the cases, only one had indirect contact with camels and is not a part of the reported cluster. The rest of the patients had no known history of contact with camels or camel products.
According to WHO, since the first report of MERS-CoV in KSA in 2012, a total 2627 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS-CoV infection, with 946 associated deaths (Case Fatality Rate or CFR of 36%), have been reported to WHO from 27 countries, across all six WHO regions. The majority of cases (2218; 84%), have been reported from KSA, including these newly reported cases. Since 2019, no human MERS-CoV infections have been reported from countries outside the Middle East.