MERS toll reaches 102 in Saudi Arabia

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome toll has reached 102 in Saudi Arabia since the virus first emerged in April 2012, a media report said Monday. The country's health ministry said 10 new deaths occurred Sunday while 16 new confirmed cases have been reported in Jeddah, Tabuk and Riyadh Monday, the Arab News reported. (Read: Saudi King dismisses health minister over MERS cases)

The total number of cases diagnosed with the virus has reached 339. The health ministry has set up specialised medical centres in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam. Acting Health Minister Adel Fakeih has instructed the health departments all over Saudi Arabia to allocate at least one hospital for MERS cases. Education Minister Khaled Al-Faisal has urged school and other education authorities to take precautionary measures to prevent the virus from spreading. A. Aziz, an Indian expatriate, has stopped sending his son to school. 'It's safe this way. I don't want to take any chances,' Aziz said. (Read: MERS-CoV claims paramedic's life in UAE)

Parents have equipped their children going to schools and colleges with masks and disinfectants. Indian and Sri Lankan missions in Saudi Arabia have launched awareness campaigns and alerts among their nationals regarding the MERS virus. Egypt recorded its first case Saturday after a 27-year-old man who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia was tested positive with the MERS virus. (Read: MERS coronavirus claims two more lives in Saudi Arabia)

What exactly is the MERS-CoV?

MERS stands for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome which is a viral illness that was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012.It is caused by a respiratory virus, a previously unseen variant of the coronavirus. It's very similar to a strain of coronavirus found in bats and not the same as the SARS virus that circulated in 2003.

Why we need to be worried

The problem with viruses like this is multi-fold. Vaccines and medicines are usually devised after years of planning and studying a particular pathogen so that we can contain them. Unlike seasonal influenza, healthcare professionals have no idea how to deal with unknown ailments, the way it spreads and how to contain it. The last time the world faced a situation like this was a decade ago when the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) broke out near Hong Kong where a local farmer died from the disease. In the next eight months, the disease affected over eight thousand people and caused 775 deaths in 37 different countries. The more worrying fact was that it had at its peak a fatality rate of 9.6% (almost one out of every ten people affected died) and despite the fact that the disease disappeared after early 2003, it's not believed to have been eradicated and the virus can still be lurking in animals. (Read: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) should you worry?)

With inputs from IANS

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