Saudi Arabia Confirms 20 New Cases of Deadly MERS Virus

Time.com ^ | 4/20/14 | Nolan Feeney

[Kartographer]

Around 49 people have been infected in the past six days by the incurable Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus, which has claimed 76 lives in Saudi Arabia. The country's Health Minister said he did not know the cause of the sudden rise in cases

Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry this weekend confirmed 20 new cases of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS. All told, the MERS virus has infected 244 people in Saudi Arabia, with 49 confirmed cases in the past six days alone.

[bgill]

incurable + Middle East = redundant

Checking to see if camel meat was on the grocery list this week. Nope.

[jacquej]

Thank you, null!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[SisterK]

No camel with gravy?

[blam]

"I’d guess that MERS would be the least of the problems for a country where half the people are walking around with hooves, tails, horns and lop ears from marrying their own cousins and brothers and sisters...."

I have similar thoughts. At least it's killing scum-bags that deserve it, Muslims.

[Owl558]

“...camel meat that was infected by bats.”

How do bats infect camel meat?

[jonrick46]

Bat droppings get on what the camel eats, causes the camel to get infected.

[DuncanWaring]

You should threaten to report him to the Mods if he doesn’t take you off the list. Then everything will settle-down again.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

LOL!

[cycjec]

just got an email about MERS in Greece and another
about Ebola in Italy. am *really* rushed so I
don’t have time to find a reputable source

[cycjec]

my apologies. this was meant to be a Freepmail, and
to another. I missed the post on this. I’ve been
offline for 2-3 days. my apologies again

[EternalHope]

MERS has shown a sudden and dramatic spike in Saudi Arabia, particularly Jeddah.

The latest gene sequencing indicates no change in the virus, so presumably the spike in cases is due to some other cause.

HOWEVER, it appears the samples were from cases that predated the current spike. How the samples were collected is also in question, with the possibility that they were NOT from victims of the current spike in cases.

So... there is currently no medical confirmation of anything new with this virus, but that may not mean a lot.

But there is no denying the big unexplained spike in cases. Based on my lying eyes, something has changed. We just don't know what.
.
.
If MERS has suddenly become significantly more transmissible, then we could easily have another SARS type situation on our hands.

Thus far it appears the known MERS cases outside Saudi Arabia are quarantined and the virus is not loose in the world at large.

IF the virus has become easily transmissible, and this new version gets loose outside Saudi Arabia (Egypt?), then it will be clear fairly soon. It is way too soon to push the panic button. But this is certainly something to keep an eye on.