Category Archives: pandemic

Media Statements – MOH: ‘8 New Confirmed Corona Cases Recorded’

5 new deaths

The total number of the confirmed cases over the past 24 hours: 8 cases

Recovered and discharged cases that previously tested positive and are now negative: 6 cases

The total number of deaths: 5 cases (2 cases were recorded over the past 24 hours and other 3 cases were previously recorded, one of the cases )

via Media Statements – MOH: ‘8 New Confirmed Corona Cases Recorded’.

When it comes to live-chicken sales, health should be the top priority | South China Morning Post

The live-chicken trade was linked to the 1997 outbreak of H5N1 bird flu that killed six people. Central slaughtering would put an end to it. It may be uneconomic and unpopular. But this has to be weighed against the human and economic costs of infection outbreaks.

via When it comes to live-chicken sales, health should be the top priority | South China Morning Post.

Media Statements – MOH: ’18 New Confirmed Corona Cases Recorded’

The total number of confirmed cases over the past 24 hours: 18 cases

The total number of recovered cases now testing negative: 1 case

The total number of deaths: 4 deaths; 1 death in the last 24 hours and 3 from previous reporting cycles

 

Overview of the Health Status of the Cases:

8 cases haven’t developed any symptoms

3 stable cases

6 cases at the Intensive Care Units

 

Health status of the cases in detail:

A. Riyadh:

 

1.     A 61-year-old man. On 23/3/2014, he was suffering from infection of the blood vessels and was admitted to a government hospital. He was discharged on 23/4/2014. He was readmitted to the same hospital with respiratory syndrome on 30/4/2014. Currently, he is in the ICU. May Allah grant him a speedy recovery.

2.     A 65-year-old woman, suffering from diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and a brain stroke. She was admitted to a government hospital on 12/4/2014 with respiratory symptoms. Her condition deteriorated on 29/4/2014. She passed away on 6/5/2014, may Allah rest her soul.

3.     A 28-year-old woman, suffering from leukemia. She displayed respiratory symptoms on 25/4/2014. On 28/4/2014, she was admitted to a government hospital. Her condition is stable.

4.     A 36-year-old woman. She has been in contact with a confirmed case and has not developed any symptoms.

5.     A 36-year-old man. He has been in contact with a confirmed case and has not developed any symptoms.

 

B. Jeddah:

 

1.     A 28-year-old woman. She displayed respiratory syndrome on 27/4/2014. On 30/4/2014, she was admitted to a private hospital. Now, she is in the ICU. May Allah grant her a speedy recovery.

2.     A 26-year-old woman. She has been in contact with a confirmed case and has not developed any symptoms.

3.     A 36-year-old woman. She has been in contact with a confirmed case and has not developed any symptoms.

4.     A 36-year-old man. He has been in contact with a confirmed case and has not developed any symptoms.

5.     A 57-year-old man. He displayed respiratory symptoms on 24/4/2014 and was admitted to a private hospital. On 3/5/2014, he was discharged from the hospital. On 5/5/2014, he was readmitted to the hospital. Currently, he is in the ICU. May Allah grant him a speedy recovery.

6.     A 10-year-old boy who was in an accident and admitted to a government hospital on 29/4/2014. He was discharged on 2/5/2014 On 4/5/2014, he displayed respiratory symptoms and was readmitted to a government hospital. He is currently in the ICU. May Allah grant him a speedy recovery.

7.     A 32-year-old man. He displayed respiratory symptoms on 4/5/2014 and was admitted to a private hospital on the same day. Currently, he is quarantined at home. He has been in contact with a confirmed case and has not developed any symptoms.

8.     A 54-year-old man. He was suffering from respiratory syndrome on 29/4/2014 and was admitted to a private hospital on 1/5/2014. His condition is stable.

 

C. Makkah

 

1.     A 84-year-old man, suffering from diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and kidney failure. He was admitted to a government hospital on 8/2/1014 with pleural effusion. He displayed respiratory symptoms on 30/4/2014. Currently, he is in the ICU. May Allah grant him a speedy recovery.

D. AlMadinah:

1.     A 42-year-old-man. He displayed mild respiratory symptoms on 3/5/2014. On 5/5/2014, he was admitted to a government hospital. His condition is stable. He was in contact with a confirmed case.

2.     56 year-old-man suffering from hypertension. He has been in contact with a confirmed case, and has not developed any symptoms.

3.     A 77-year-old-man, suffering from diabetes, hypertension, and kidney failure. He has been in contact with a confirmed case, and has not developed any symptoms.

 

E. Najran

1.     A 34-year-old man. He suffered respiratory syndrome on 3/5/2014. On 5/5/2014, he was admitted to a government hospital. He is currently in the ICU. May Allah grant him a speedy recovery.

Deaths from previous cases:

 

1.     A 75-year-old woman passed away on 5/5/2014. She had been previously recorded as a confirmed case in Jeddah. May Allah have mercy upon her.

2.     A 60-year-old man passed away on 6/5/2014. He had been previously recorded as a confirmed case in Jeddah. May Allah have mercy upon her.

3.     A 45-year-old woman passed away on 6/5/2014. She had been previously recorded as a confirmed case in Riyadh. May Allah have mercy upon her.

 

Recovered and discharged cases that previously tested positive and are now negative:

1.     A 16-year-old female who was discharged from a government hospital in Riyadh.

via Media Statements – MOH: ’18 New Confirmed Corona Cases Recorded’.

Researchers determine MERS virus transmission from animals to humans | Vaccine News Daily

{Stop nose to nose contact with camels and no more kissing your camel’s nose?

Could well be that both camels and people are being infected by bats who infect the camels and people – similar to the influenza connection between poultry, pigs, and people in live markets?}

The virologists found that virus levels were very high in the camel’s nasal mucosa and conjunctiva, which they said points to transmission pathways from to humans from those sites.

via Researchers determine MERS virus transmission from animals to humans | Vaccine News Daily.

Migrant workers should avoid live bird markets: WHO official – ANTARA News

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – An Official from the World Health Organization (WHO) said Indonesian migrant workers should avoid live bird markets in foreign countries, particularly in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

“I think it is important for tourists or migrant workers to avoid live bird markets. I think it is particularly important currently in China, but also in live bird markets in general that have avian influenza scattered around,” the chief of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Professor Anne Kelso, told ANTARA here on Tuesday.

Anne said it is better for people who are in foreign countries to avoid live bird markets, especially when a dangerous virus arises. Anne added that the location can be the source of the greatest risk for a virus infection.

The latest virus of avian influenza that had infected several birds and people in the area are of the H7N9 type, Anne said.

via Migrant workers should avoid live bird markets: WHO official – ANTARA News.

Saudi hospital head sacked as MERS death toll hits 117 | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

Saudi Arabia’s acting health minister has announced the sacking of the head of a Jeddah hospital where a spike in MERS infections among medical staff sparked panic among the public.

The move, which Adel Fakieh published on Twitter late Tuesday, came after he inspected King Fahd Hospital’s emergency department in the Red Sea city.

Hours after the news, health officials announced two more deaths from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, bringing the toll to 117.

The victims were a 68-year-old woman in Jeddah, the kingdom’s commercial capital, and a 60-year-old man died in Medina.

The Jeddah hospital was temporarily shut last month after several medics were infected by MERS.

And panic at the Red Sea city’s main hospital prompted at least four doctors to resign in mid-April after they refused to treat MERS patients for fear of infection.

via Saudi hospital head sacked as MERS death toll hits 117 | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

Avian Flu Diary: WHO Statement On MERS-CoV Mission To Saudi Arabia

The majority of human-to-human infections occurred in health care facilities. One quarter of all cases have been health care workers.  There is a clear need to improve health care workers’ knowledge and attitudes about the disease and systematically apply WHO’s recommended infection prevention and control measures in health care facilities.

 

The reasons for the increase in the number of primary community cases, as well as the infection route, remain unknown. Three quarters of all primary community cases have been male, the majority of whom have been over 50 years old. Secondary transmission in the community and households is much lower than in health care settings.

via Avian Flu Diary: WHO Statement On MERS-CoV Mission To Saudi Arabia.

Protection against filovirus (ebola) diseases by a novel broad-spectrum nucleoside analogue BCX4430 : Nature : Nature Publishing Group

  1. Good and bad – the researchers know what they are doing but Ft. Detrick is also the place were nerve gas was tested and developed. The close ties between testing for cures and for militarizing things troubles more than a few people.

(Very shortly now, I expect rumors will begin that these labs or someone else is behind the MERS-CoV epidemic in Saudi Arabia and UAE)

Most importantly, BCX4430 completely protects cynomolgus macaques from Marburg virus infection when administered as late as 48 hours after infection. In addition, BCX4430 exhibits broad-spectrum antiviral activity against numerous viruses, including bunyaviruses, arenaviruses, paramyxoviruses, coronaviruses and flaviviruses. This is the first report, to our knowledge, of non-human primate protection from filovirus disease by a synthetic drug-like small molecule.

via Protection against filovirus diseases by a novel broad-spectrum nucleoside analogue BCX4430 : Nature : Nature Publishing Group.

Who did the research?

  1. Division of Molecular and Translational Sciences, Therapeutic Discovery Center, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Fort Detrick, Maryland 21702, USA

    • Travis K. Warren,
    • Jay Wells,
    • Rekha G. Panchal,
    • Kelly S. Stuthman,
    • Nicole L. Garza,
    • Sean A. Van Tongeren,
    • Lian Dong,
    • Cary J. Retterer,
    • Brett P. Eaton,
    • Gianluca Pegoraro,
    • Shelley Honnold,
    • Lisa S. Welch &
    • Sina Bavari
  2. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc., Durham, North Carolina 27703, USA

    • Shanta Bantia,
    • Pravin Kotian,
    • Xilin Chen,
    • Brian R. Taubenheim,
    • Yarlagadda S. Babu &
    • William P. Sheridan
  3.  

IRIN Middle East | Alert over spike in Middle East flu virus | Egypt | Israel | Iraq | Jordan | Lebanon | Libya | Oman | OPT | Syria | United Arab Emirates | Yemen | Early Warning | Flu | Health & Nutrition

Last month some 400 passengers from an Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi to Manila were called in for testing by the Philippines Ministry of Health after it was discovered one person on board had been diagnosed with MERS-CoV in the UAE, but had left the country before his results were known.

via IRIN Middle East | Alert over spike in Middle East flu virus | Egypt | Israel | Iraq | Jordan | Lebanon | Libya | Oman | OPT | Syria | United Arab Emirates | Yemen | Early Warning | Flu | Health & Nutrition.

Guinea’s Ebola death toll rises to 81 – Xinhua | English.news.cn

CONAKRY, May 4 (Xinhua) — The Ebola virus has killed 81 people out of 127 confirmed cases in Guinea so far this year, according to a latest update from the Guiean Health Ministry.

Guinean Health Ministry official Sakoba Keita said as of May 2, six new cases were reported in the West African country, with one in capital Conakry and five in the southeast town of Guekedou, the epicenter of the epidemic.

First discovered in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks in Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), the Ebola virus was named after the Ebola River where the DR Congo outbreak was found in a nearby village.

via Guinea’s Ebola death toll rises to 81 – Xinhua | English.news.cn.