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Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has infected at least 1370 individuals (including asymptomatic cases) in Saudi Arabia since 2012 ( e.g. ProMED link ). Since mid-February 2016, Buraidah in Al Qassim region in Saudia Arabia has been experiencing a local MERS outbreak with 23 cases reported through March 16, 2016 ( link ). As of April 3, 2016 there have been an additional 11 cases reported, bringing the total cases reported from Buraidah by Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health to 34.   Many of these cases are a result of nosocomial infection, but perhaps as many as eight of these cases were community acquired infections with some individuals having contact with animals. Among these 34 cases, 17 have been reported as deaths so far. (see note) While the Buraidah MERS outbreak has raised concerns, the 34 cases from Buraidah represented about 40% of all MERS cases reported from Saudi Arabia since January 1, 2016. The majority of MERS cases since January 1, 2016, about 49 cases, have b...

Current map of the general geolocations of more than 700 local MERS-CoV infections on the Arabian Peninsula as of June 25, 2014. Location names are labeled in red. The area of the circle depicts the relative number of reported cases at that location.     Map note: On June 3, the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health announced more than 100 additional MERS cases that occurred between May 2013 and April 2014 ( link ).   No geographic information about these cases was provided by the Ministry of Health and they are not included on this map. Previous map, April 21, 2014 here .

Today, the Ministry of Health (MOH) officials in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) revised upward the number of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) case and MERS-related deaths that have occurred in the KSA ( link ). As noted by Michael Coston ( link ), the KSA MOH added a total of 113 cases and 92 deaths to the official cumulative count from that county. The lack of any details for these additional cases or the individuals who died, precludes determining whether all of the unreported deaths are only from the previously unreported cases. In several instances in recent MOH media reports, there have been reported deaths that could not be correlated with previously reported cases because the combination of age/gender of the reported deaths from a specific location could not be associated with previously reported cases ( link , link ). Through yesterday, publicly reported cases from the KSA represented about 82% of all MERS cases reported from around the world. Today, with these add...

Map of the general geolocations of more than 330 local MERS-CoV infections on the Arabian Peninsula as of April 21, 2014. Locations with 10 or more reported cases are labeled in black. The area of the circle depicts the relative number of reported cases at that location.   Reported Geolocations with 10 or More MERS-CoV Cases  Geolocation Case Count (as of April 21, 2014) Riyadh 100 Jeddah 73 Abu Dhabi 29 Al Hofuf 26 Ash Sharqiah 17 Al Ain 15 Hafar Al-Batin 11 Madinah 11

Since 2012, the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has infected almost 300 people, many of them healthcare workers including nurses and doctors. Infections of health care workers and patients that take place within or are associated with a hospital or health care facility are referred to as nosocomial infections. A large number of MERS cases can be classified as nosocomial infections. For the purposes of this discussion, localized geographic clusters of MERS-CoV cases that appear to represent hospital-acquired infections are referred to as nosocomial MERS clusters. Under this definition, there has been at least 10 separate nosocomial clusters of MERS cases. Of these clusters, only two have been reported in the literature [1,2]. The remaining nosocomial clusters are identified based on media reports, ministry of health reports, and World Health Organization reports. The quality of this data is uncertain but trends are clear and speculations can be advanced.  Th...