WHO: Experts probe Middle-Eastern respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2 May 2014
Excerpt
A team of experts from WHO started a two-day mission yesterday in Jeddah to assist national health authorities to investigate the recent increase in number of people infected by MERS-CoV.
From mid-March 2014, 111 people have tested positive in the Jeddah area; the biggest single surge in the MERS-CoV outbreak since the new virus was detected in April 2012. Thirty-one persons have died.
As a large proportion of infections in Jeddah occurred in health-care facilities, the WHO team began with analyzing transmission patterns in the city’s main hospitals.
“We need to understand how people got infected in health-care settings, and in the community; we are looking into possible infection routes and whether the virus has changed its ability to more easily infect people,” says Dr Jaouad Mahjour, WHO Team Leader, “but we know that the systematic application of basic infection prevention and control measures in health facilities is key to limiting transmission and protecting health-care workers and other patients.”
Following the confirmation of the first cases, health facilities increased laboratory testing of patients, close contacts and health-care workers and strengthened protective measures. One third of the people tested positive in the recent spate of cases are health-care workers with mild or no symptoms.
“Our priority is to stop the transmission inside the hospital by strengthening infection prevention and control activities,” says Dr Mohammed Al Ghamdi, an Infectious Disease Consultant at the King Fahd Hospital, the city’s main general hospital – where 78 people have tested positive so far. “WHO is helping us in getting answers on transmission routes not only in health facilities, but also in the community.”…
http://www.who.int/features/2014/saudi-arabia-coronavirus/en/

WHO: Global Alert and Response (GAR) – Disease Outbreak News [to 3 May 2014]
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2013_03_12/en/index.html
:: Human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus – update 1 May 2014
Excerpt
On 3 May 2014, the Ministry of Health of Egypt reported the first laboratory-confirmed case
of infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the country…
:: Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – update 1 May 2014
:: Ebola virus disease, West Africa – update 28 April 2014
Guinea
Excerpt
As of 18:00 on 3 May 2014, the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Guinea has reported a
cumulative total of 224 clinical cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), including 143 deaths. To
date, 202 patients have been tested for ebolavirus infection and 121 cases have been
laboratory confirmed, including 74 deaths. In addition, 41 cases (34 deaths) meet the
probable case definition for EVD and 62 cases (35 deaths) are classified as suspected cases.
A revised number of 25 health care workers (HCW) have been affected (19 confirmed),
with 16 deaths (12 confirmed); the number of HCW was previously reported as 26….
…WHO does not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Guinea based
on the current information available for this event.
:: Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – update 3 May 2014

CDC/MMWR Watch [to 3 May 2014]
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwr_wk.html
CDC Transcript: First case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus infection (MERS) in the United States – Transcript
Friday, May 2, 2014, 6:30 PM
CDC Telebriefing: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was confirmed today in a traveler to the United States. This virus is relatively new to humans and was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012.