Saudi Arabia raises number of MERS infections by 100: Is this a pandemic?

Saudi health officials follow insights from recent review and add 100 confirmed MERS infections that were previously misclassified, raising the total in that country to 575 cases.

Saudi Arabia continues to wrestle with controlling the sometimes deadly Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome virus. On Tuesday, Saudi officials, after examining a careful review, added 100 confirmed MERS cases to their growing number of infections, cases that had been previously undocumented. To date, MERS has been confirmed in 575 individuals in Saudi Arabia. The illness has claimed the lives of 282 MERS patients. Fifty-three patients with confirmed MERS are currently undergoing medical treatment.

The new report came on the heels of the removal of Saudi Arabia’s deputy health minister, Ziad Memish, by acting Health Minister Adel Faqih. Less than two months ago, King Abdullah fired the Kingdom’s top health official. The removal of the ministers highlights concerns about the nation’s ability to manage the spread of MERS.

The revision is the result of a full review of previous cases launched to provide a better understanding of how the virus spreads, according to Dr. Tariq Madany, head of the Saudi medical advisory council.

“The ministry is committed to providing all the data concerning the coronavirus and putting polices in place to protect public health,” Madany is quoted as saying. “Though the review showed confirmed cases that needed to be added, we are still witnessing a decline in the number of newly registered cases in the past few weeks.”

The virus that causes MERS is a coronavirus, a type of RNA virus that also includes the virus that causes the common cold and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. There are no cures or specific treatments available for MERS virus, although some drugs approved for other applications show promise in managing the spread of the virus, which may jump from camels to humans.

In a 2003 pandemic, SARS killed approximately 800 people. The World Health Organization said last month that MERS has not yet become a pandemic or global emergency but that the organization continues to monitor the spread of the virus and work with health officials in individual nations that have or are at risk of developing MERS infections.