FSP - Microcosm News- Earth Watch Report: Oman

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Thursday, March 27, 2014

Biological Hazard - Oman, Governorate of Muscat, Muscat

Earth Watch Report - Biological Hazards

CDC/Cynthia Goldsmith

Electron micrograph of MERS-CoV (image has been digitally colorized)

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Biological Hazard

Oman

Governorate of Muscat, Muscat

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Biological Hazard in Oman on Thursday, 27 March, 2014 at 05:44 (05:44 AM) UTC.

Description
A 40-year-old man from Oman with underlying medical conditions. He was 1st admitted to a hospital in Muscat on [15 Feb 2014] and was then readmitted to hospital in Abu Dhabi on (17 Mar 2014). His condition deteriorated, and he died on (24 Mar 2014). Laboratory-confirmation was done on (21 Mar 2014). The patient had no history of recent travel outside of Oman and the UAE and had no reported contact with animals or a laboratory-confirmed case. Further epidemiological investigation in ongoing.
Biohazard name:	MERS-COv
Biohazard level:	4/4 Hazardous
Biohazard desc.:	Viruses and bacteria that cause severe to fatal disease in humans, and for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, H5N1(bird flu), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, hantaviruses, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other hemorrhagic or unidentified diseases. When dealing with biological hazards at this level the use of a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a Level Four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, autonomous detection system, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent both doors opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a Biosafety Level 4 (P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

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Muscat Daily.com

Omani dies of MERS virus in Abu Dhabi hospital

Muscat Daily staff writer

March 26, 2014

Muscat -

A 40 year old Omani man with 'underlying medical conditions' died of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the man was first admitted in a hospital in Muscat on February 15, and then readmitted to a hospital in Abu Dhabi on March 17. “His condition deteriorated and he died on March 24,” the WHO added in a statement.

World Health Organization

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – update

Disease Outbreak News

26 March 2014 - On 23 March 2014, the National IHR Focal Point of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) notified WHO of an additional laboratory-confirmed case of infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

Details of the case provided to WHO are as follows:

A 40 year-old man from Oman with underlying medical conditions. He was first admitted to a hospital in Muscat on 15 February and was then readmitted to hospital in Abu Dhabi on 17 March. His condition deteriorated and he died on 24 March 2014. Laboratory-confirmation was done on 21 March. The patient had no history of recent travel outside of Oman and the UAE, and had no reported contact with animals or a laboratory-confirmed case. Further epidemiological investigation in ongoing.

Globally, from September 2012 to date, WHO has been informed of a total of 200 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 85 deaths.

WHO advice

Based on the current situation and available information, WHO encourages all Member States to continue their surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and to carefully review any unusual patterns.
Infection prevention and control measures are critical to prevent the possible spread of MERS-CoV in health care facilities. Health-care facilities that provide for patients suspected or confirmed to be infected with MERS-CoV infection should take appropriate measures to decrease the risk of transmission of the virus from an infected patient to other patients, health-care workers and visitors. Health care workers should be educated, trained and refreshed with skills on infection prevention and control.
It is not always possible to identify patients with MERS-CoV early because some have mild or unusual symptoms. For this reason, it is important that health-care workers apply standard precautions consistently with all patients – regardless of their diagnosis – in all work practices all the time.
Droplet precautions should be added to the standard precautions when providing care to all patients with symptoms of acute respiratory infection. Contact precautions and eye protection should be added when caring for probable or confirmed cases of MERS-CoV infection. Airborne precautions should be applied when performing aerosol generating procedures.
Patients should be managed as potentially infected when the clinical and epidemiological clues strongly suggest MERS-CoV, even if an initial test on a nasopharyngeal swab is negative. Repeat testing should be done when the initial testing is negative, preferably on specimens from the lower respiratory tract.
Health-care providers are advised to maintain vigilance. Recent travellers returning from the Middle East who develop SARI should be tested for MERS-CoV as advised in the current surveillance recommendations. All Member States are reminded to promptly assess and notify WHO of any new case of infection with MERS-CoV, along with information about potential exposures that may have resulted in infection and a description of the clinical course. Investigation into the source of exposure should promptly be initiated to identify the mode of exposure, so that further transmission of the virus can be prevented.
People at high risk of severe disease due to MERS-CoV should avoid close contact with animals when visiting farms or barn areas where the virus is known to be potentially circulating. For the general public, when visiting a farm or a barn, general hygiene measures, such as regular hand washing before and after touching animals, avoiding contact with sick animals, and following food hygiene practices, should be adhered to.
WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event nor does it currently recommend the application of any travel or trade restrictions.

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MERS-Coronavirus claims life of 40-year-old Omani citizen in UAE

by Times Of Oman News Service | March 26, 2014 , 6 : 56 pm GST

Muscat: A 40-year-old Omani died in UAE due to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), according to World Health Organisation (WHO).
The WHO said that the citizen was first admitted to a hospital in Muscat on February 15 and was then readmitted to hospital in Abu Dhabi on March 17. "His condition deteriorated in Abu Dhabi hospital and he died on March 24," the WHO said.
A laboratory-confirmation was done on March 21. The patient had no history of recent travel outside of Oman and the UAE, and had no reported contact with animals or a laboratory-confirmed case. "Further epidemiological investigation is going on," the WHO said.
Globally, from September 2012, WHO has been informed of a total of 200 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 85 deaths.
In Oman, the MERS-CoV has claimed life of two people.
A 59-year-old patient who was under treatment died on December and the Sultanate's first MERS coronavirus patient died on November 10, 2013.
The first MERS-CoV victim, who was admitted to the hospital in Nizwa was suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure while the second victim died of lung failure.

Read More Here

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Saturday, August 10, 2013

Blood study suggests camels could be MERS-CoV carriers

Earth Watch Report - Biological Hazards

Image Source : Wikimedia.org
Author kallerna

Image Source : Wikimedia.org
Author kallerna
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Lisa Schnirring | Staff Writer | CIDRAP News

Aug 08, 2013
A WHO spokesman said the findings in camels provide clues, but the issue of how humans are being infected is still unresolved.
Researchers who conducted blood tests on animals from different regions found evidence that camels have been exposed to the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) or a very close relative, the outbreak's first strong clue about a possible animal reservoir.
Until now, the only animal clue has been from genetic sequencing studies, which suggested the virus came from bats. Though there are no reports that any of the patients had contact with bats, a man from the United Arab Emirates who was treated for his fatal infection in Germany had been exposed to a sick racing camel.
The investigators, mostly from the Netherlands and Germany, reported their findings today in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
The first MERS-CoV illness was reported a year ago, and so far 94 cases and 46 deaths have been confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO), all of them from or linked to Middle Eastern countries.
Human-to-human infections have been rare, and health officials suspect that an animal reservoir could be playing a yet unknown key role in the spread of the new virus.
The research team obtained 349 blood serum samples from livestock animals including dromedary camels, cows, sheep, goats, and other animals closely related to dromedaries. The animals were from different areas, including Oman, the Netherlands, Spain, and Chile.
They analyzed the blood samples for antibodies to MERS-CoV, other antibodies that react to SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) coronavirus, and HCoV-OC43, another strain of coronavirus that can infect humans and is related to a bovine form of the virus.
No cross-reactivity was seen between MERS-CoV antibodies and those for SARS or HCoV-OC43, and the team confirmed those findings with highly specific virus neutralization tests. Presence of MERS-CoV antibodies probably shows previous infection with MERS-CoV, or a closely related virus, the group reported.
No MERS-CoV antibodies were found in the blood of 160 animals from the Netherlands and Spain, but evidence of earlier exposure to the virus was found in all 50 samples taken from dromedary camels in Oman. Sampling in Oman involved camels from different parts of the country, suggesting that MERS-CoV or a close relative is circulating widely in the region's dromedary camels, the authors reported.
No antibodies were found in animals from the Netherlands and Chile that are closely related to dromedaries, such as Bactrian camels, alpacas, and llamas.
Lower levels of MERS-CoV antibodies were found in 14% (15) of samples taken from two herds of dromedaries from the Canary Islands, a Spanish island group located off the coast of mainland Africa that has not reported any human MERS-CoV cases.
The authors said in a journal press release that the dromedaries from Oman were positive more often and had much higher antibody MERS-CoV antibody levels than the ones from Spain. "The best way to explain this is that there is a MERS-CoV-like virus circulating in dromedary camels, but that the behavior of this virus in the Middle East is somehow different to that in Spain," they noted.
The findings suggest dromedary camels may be one reservoir for MERS-CoV and that their popularity in the Middle East, where they are used for racing, meat, and milk, presents a variety of contacts with humans that could lead to virus transmission, the investigators said in the press release.

Read More Here