25Jul

All you need to know about the virus

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The infected man was admitted to hospital last month and health officials had checked 108 people that he was in contact with, but no secondary infections were detected.

A case of potentially fatal Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has been reported from Abu Dhabi, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed on Monday. A 28-year-old man from Al-Ain City in Abu Dhabi on the border with Oman was found positive for the MERS-CoV infection.

The infected man was admitted to a hospital last month and health officials had checked 108 people that he was in contact with, but no secondary infections were detected, Reuters reported quoting WHO report.

What is MERS CoV?

MERS-CoV is a zoonotic virus that causes viral respiratory infection. The MERS-CoV spreads from one infected camel to humans. The virus, a species of Coronavirus, can infect humans, bats, and camels.

The risk of getting infected is higher if humans are frequently in coming contact with the camels, drinking raw camel milk, or eating raw meat of the camels. The virus has been founded in many countries in South Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

However, in the reported case the infected man has no history of coming in direct contact with any infected camel.

MERS CoV symptoms

According to WHO, fever, coughing, and discomfort in breathing are common MERS-CoV symptoms. However, pneumonia is a common symptom but not always present in infected individuals. Gastrointestinal symptoms which include diarrhoea could also be found in many patients.
The first Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus was detected in Saudi Arabia in 2012. However, more than 27 countries have been found to be affected by this virus till now. The countries include Algeria, Austria, Bahrain, China, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the United Aram Emirates, among others.

The infection can cause severe disease in humans resulting in higher mortality. As per the report by WHO, a total of 2,605 cases of the virus have been reported from different parts of the world so far, out of which 936 resulted in deaths.

As of now, there are no vaccines or specialised therapy available to cure MERS-CoV, although various MERS-CoV vaccines and treatments are under development.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)

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