Regional situation update on MERS, 30 June 2016

Situation update on Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus as of 30 June 2016

In the month of June 2016, a cluster of MERS-CoV cases was reported from a university hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A total of 30 laboratory-confirmed case of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), including one related death was reported from this cluster. Most of the cases were asymptomatic and were detected following an active screening of close contacts of the index patient. A total of 17 asymptomatic health care workers were detected from this cluster.
During the first six months of 2016, both Bahrain (1 death), Jordan (2 cases), Saudi Arabia (154 cases, including 45 deaths), Qatar (3 cases, including 1 death) and United Arab Emirates (2 cases) reported laboratory-confirmed case of MERS. Compared to similar time period in 2015 (January–June), there has been a 30% decline in number of MERS cases reported during the same corresponding period in 2016.
The demographic and epidemiological characteristics of the cases reported in 2016 do not show any significant difference when compared with cases reported from 2012 to 2015 (combined).
The age group of those aged 50–59 years continues to be group at highest risk for acquiring infection as primary cases, while the group at highest risk for acquiring infection as secondary cases is those aged 30–39 years. The majority of deaths among primary and secondary cases have occurred in the age groups of 50–59 and 70–79 years, respectively.