Staff WriterMiddle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory syndrome that originated in Saudi Arabia and was first diagnosed in 2012. The most common symptoms are fever, cough, and shortness of breath; the disease is potentially fatal if not treated. Since 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed 228 cases, 92 of which were fatal. This month alone, there have been 15 new confirmed MERS cases with two deaths in Saudi Arabia. Seven of the new cases tested positive, but showed no symptoms, said Saudi health officials.
MERS
has spread from Saudi Arabia to many Middle Eastern countries and even into
France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The disease spreads through direct
physical contact with those who are infected. Camels are one of the carriers
and Saudi medical students believe that to be how most people contract the
disease, but it can also spread person to person.
King Fahd General Hospital, a large public hospital in the
Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, has been hardest hit by a spike of victims in the
city. On Friday, April 11 the hospital had to shut down the emergency room to
disinfect the facility. MERS patients were avoiding the hospital because one of
the doctors contracted the disease and died, while another is currently
infected. "What I really wish for is to shut the whole hospital down until
the spread subsides,” said one of the hospital’s doctors.
