Snapdate: MERS-CoV detections near 500...

MERS-CoV detection by day; Jeddah outbreak.
Click on image to enlarge.

Welcome to the beginning of MERS-CoV's 112th week (2.15 years). We sit at 497 cases (probably over 500 if the United Arab Emirates would confirm their cases with some extra data that made them more identifiable and "real". For now, I'm not including them after the recent issue around theUAE12. For now my count says at 497 with ~131 deaths (26.3%).

Judging by tonight's announcement of only 3 cases (only 1 with an onset date which was 24-Apr), let's hope this is the week where the Jeddah outbreak gets put to bed.

MERS-CoV detection by week 2012-present.
Click on image to enlarge.

Also, make this the week that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's(KSA) Ministry of Health adds some consistency to its releases. They've been doing a 100% improved job in the past weeks, adding much more detail, but it needs to be the same detail for every case, every day. And the listing of deaths and recovered cases is also great; but is currently not able to be linked to the original announcements so we don't know where they these people were from, comorbidities, HCWs etc as there are often 2 or more people from the same region with the same age. A date of affliction is needed to permit the linkage between original announcement and death/recovery. Just 1 more variable guys. Pleeease.

Nonetheless the dailies seem to be slowing, although the cumulative average still strolls upwards but in a linear, not exponential manner.

We stay tuned.