It's a "MERS-in.." kinda day. The World Health Organization todayannounced a fatal case of confirmed MERS-CoV infection diagnosed in Kuwait [1].
Summary of the case details:
- The infected person was a 60-year old male
- A Syrian national
- Hospitalised 13-Feb-2014
- Died 6-Mar-2014
- Lab confirmed 9-Mar-2014
- He had comorbidities
A few things here worth noting I think:
- There was quite a gap (24-days) between being hospitalised (not sure when the case started showing signs of illness) and having a laboratory confirmation (also 3-days after death)
- While this is the 3rd case identified within Kuwait, it seems to be the first case that could be nailed down as having been acquired in Kuwait. I tend to try and list my numbers and maps by where the case was acquired rather than where they were diagnosed. Two previous MERS-CoV cases (FluTrackers #158 and #159; includes 1 case with camel contact noted) diagnosed in Kuwait had travelled outside Kuwait blurring the ability to see where they had picked up the virus
.@setiogi @MackayIM @FluTrackers Not the first Kuwaiti case. and infection acquired in #Kuwait, we believe. #MERS
� Gregory H�rtl (@HaertlG) March 20, 2014
References...
- WHO Disease Outbreak Notification 20-Mar-2014
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2014_03_20_mers/en/ - FluTrackers thread on Kuwait MERS-CoV case #1
- FluTackers on Kuwait MERS-CoV case #2
