Friday, June 21, 2013

New Virus Originated In The Middle East

A bit of a medical mystery and a deadly one:
A mysterious new respiratory virus that originated in the Middle East spreads easily between people and appears more deadly than SARS, doctors reported Wednesday after investigating the biggest outbreak in Saudi Arabia.

[...]

...[Experts]couldn't nail down how it was spread in every case -- through droplets from sneezing or coughing, or a more indirect route. Some of the hospital patients weren't close to the infected person, but somehow picked up the virus....

[...]

Cases have continued to trickle in, and there appears to be an ongoing outbreak in Saudi Arabia. MERS cases have also been reported in Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Tunisia. Most have had a direct connection to the Middle East region.

In the Saudi cluster that was investigated, certain patients infected many more people than would be expected, Perl said. One patient who was receiving dialysis treatment spread MERS to seven others, including fellow dialysis patients at the same hospital. During SARS, such patients were known as "superspreaders" and effectively seeded outbreaks in numerous countries.

[...]

...Compared to SARS' 8 percent death rate, the fatality rate for MERS in the Saudi outbreak was about 65 percent, though the experts could be missing mild cases that might skew the figures....
More information HERE.

The CDC has information HERE.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does the prdominantly shariah compliant location of treatment (Saudi Arabia,UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Tunisia) play a part in the significant increase in MERS mortality....a result of inshallah disinfecting protocol?
Recall the shariah based conflict with female muslim medical personnel refusing to use alcohol based cleansers and insisting on bulky head to pinkie to toe 'tent' like garments in defiance of hospital protocol (2006 via JihadWatch.org).

Is the mortality rate in Italy, France, Britain the same 65% for MERS?

Anonymous said...

Related to above comment: 2008 via JihadWatch.org: UK: Muslim medics refuse to roll up their sleeves -- it's un-Islamic

Pastorius said...

Well, that means that if we do create an inoculation, they won't take it and they will die en masse.

A fitting end, if I ever heard of one.

Unknown said...

Hi guys, i've been posting on this one for a while because for me this is the 'big one' to watch.
In October the yearly Hajj starts i fear the virus will be transported globally.
The greatest danger of the spread is in the fact that patients are already contagious before showing any sings.
So checkpoints at Airports like during the SARS period will not be effective.
You better start buying that box of facemasks NOW and hand sanitation products to keep on you.

Always On Watch said...

Will,
Yes, I've seen several of your posts on the topic.

What amazed me this morning was that the story appeared on a local-news radio's web site: WMAL. This particular web site rarely focuses on any kind of international news. Hmmmm....

Always On Watch said...

Pasto,
if we do create an inoculation, they won't take it and they will die en masse.

A fitting end, if I ever heard of one.


A very strong possibility, IMO.

Will Muslim docs in the West take precautions and, if it is developed, a vaccine? Lots of Muslims working throughout the West's healthcare system.

On another note...Remember the 1918 flu epidemic? Pretty much ended WW1.

Always On Watch said...

The WHO has now called an emergency meeting related to MERS.

Christine said...

Seems to me that people who live in the areas where this is spreading, should not be allowed to travel.

But we know that won't happen. Be prepared for it to strike here.

I live within a few short miles of Dearborn. That is scary.

Pastorius said...

Christine,
That's a solution, but it doesn't cover the problem of virus infiltation by Hajj.

Christine said...

No it doesn't. And that is why I'm afraid. Because the US is not going to stop people from going and coming back.

Nicoenarg said...

Free countries can't and won't stop Muslims from going to or coming back from Mecca and Medina.

How long does it take for symptoms to appear? This is dangerous especially for people like Christine who live next to Muslims.

Muslims in Argentina stick to themselves so I'm not so worried. BUT if this is not tackled then this is going to get out of control really soon, really fast.

Christine said...

I didn't mention that I also go to college with a lot of muslims, due to the fact that is right outside Dearborn. We all know how much of a breeding ground colleges can be.

Yes, this has me really worried. If I didn't live so close, it wouldn't worry me as much.

Pastorius said...

Unfortunately, I live around a lot of Muslims too. Not as many as Christine, but ...