Outbreak Alert: Emerging Lethal Virus Detected in World Region

There is a possibility of a second COVID-19 pandemic.

The United Arab Emirates authorities have reported a new case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a deadly virus that kills between 13% and 35% of those infected.

The World Health Organization has confirmed the new case of MERS, according to a report by The Gateway Pundit.

The 28-year-old male patient, who was put on a ventilator in the intensive care ward, was diagnosed on June 21 when his nasopharyngeal swab tested positive for the virus.

MERS was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Since then, the WHO has recorded a total of 2,605 infections, with 936 resulting in deaths, a death ratio of 35%.

In the United Arab Emirates, there have been 94 MERS cases, including this new one, since the first case was reported in June 2013. Out of these cases, 12 resulted in deaths, with a death ratio of 13%.

The new MERS case is considered mysterious as the patient is a non-UAE national residing in Al Ain city who did not have any contact with animals at risk, such as sheep, goats, or camels.

The patient experienced symptoms including right flank pain, vomiting, and dysuria between June 3 and June 7. His condition rapidly deteriorated, and he was admitted to the hospital on June 8 with sepsis, acute kidney injury, and acute pancreatitis.

On June 13, the patient was transferred to a specialized government hospital’s intensive care unit and put on mechanical ventilation.

*UAE: New case of Mers virus confirmed in Al Ain, says WHO*
All 108 identified contacts were monitored for 14 days from the last date of exposure to the patient
A case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers-CoV) has been confirmed in the UAE’s Capital, the World Health… pic.twitter.com/qb4ESsp3Rm

— Tripurari Chaudhary (@TipsChaudhary) July 25, 2023

The UAE health authorities claim to have thoroughly traced his contacts and found no household or family member contacts in the country.

A total of 108 contacts have been identified and monitored for two weeks since their last exposure to the MERS patient, and no secondary cases have been detected.

The report highlights that the Middle East coronavirus can cause fever, shortness of breath, cough, pneumonia, diarrhea, and gastrointestinal symptoms.

As MERS is a zoonotic virus, transmitted from animals to humans, this new case in the UAE is quite mysterious. Although human-to-human transmission has been observed, it mostly occurs in healthcare facilities or among close contacts.

The WHO is closely monitoring the MERS situation as the potential for another pandemic, similar to COVID-19, is unfortunately quite real.

A 28-year-old man has tested positive for the potentially fatal Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (#MERS-CoV) in a city in #AbuDhabi on the border with Oman, the World Health Organization says.https://t.co/DgvsNUaqoX

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) July 24, 2023

This article appeared in Mainstpress and has been published here with permission.