UN warns countries to bolster fight against MERS virus

The UN health agency warned countries today to bolster their guard against the MERS virus, which has killed 152 people in Saudi Arabia and is causing alarm as it spreads elsewhere.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said its emergency committee, which includes global medical and policy experts, had flagged mounting concerns about the potentially fatal Middle East Respiratory Virus (MERS).
"They reached a consensus that the situation had increased in seriousness and that their concerns about the situation had also increased in terms of urgency," Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's health security head, told reporters.
The agency called on countries to improve infection prevention and control, collect more data on the virus and to be vigilant in preventing it from spreading to vulnerable countries, notably in Africa.

A total of 571 MERS cases have been reported to the WHO, of which 171 have proved fatal. In many of them, victims caught the virus in hospital from other patients, although experts believe camels may also spread the disease.
The vast majority of infections have been reported in Saudi Arabia, and cases outside the Gulf nation have largely involved people who had travelled there.

The Netherlands became the 13th country outside of Saudi Arabia today to report a case of MERS since December.
Fukuda said that while Riyadh had done its best to stem the spread of MERS, a WHO team there still found "sub-optimal" infection-control and overcrowding in hospitals.

Cases have also risen outside hospitals, possibly because of the winter season or an increase in infections among animal carriers, Fukuda said.
Saudi Arabia's agriculture ministry has urged citizens to wear masks and gloves when handling camels, which are thought to be the source of the mysterious corona virus in the Gulf state.
"It's clear is that there is no convincing evidence right now for an increase in the transmissibility of this virus," Fukuda said.
"If it is really associated with camels, and all of the infections are from camels to people and it does not become very transmissible among people, then I think that there's a reasonable chance that it would stay a regional infection, Fukuda added.

There have been confirmed or suspected cases in Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Philippines, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Yemen since December.