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Middle East Respiratory Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is reported to have infected a family cluster of three generations in Hafar Al-Batin in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) (see map below). Hafar Al-Batin is a city in the Eastern Province ( ash-Sharqīyah ) of KSA with a population of almost 400,000 people.[1] Official information from the KSA Ministry of Health is lacking on this cluster, however, scattered Arabic language media reports from the region allow a tentative reconstruction of this cluster of at least 4 cases. Other MERS-CoV cases are reported from Hafar Al-Batin, including a health care worker. Some of these other cases may be associated with this cluster.  Each of the cases in the cluster is described below.  A. 60-70?, F died (within the past few days), newly reported, not confirmed by World Health Organization (WHO). [2]  B. Fahad Al-Sahli, 38, M   died (Aug 17 or 18, 2013), son of Case A.    Confirmed by WHO.   [3]   C. 7 (8?), F rep...

In an upcoming article in Emerging Infectious Diseases, researchers are reporting that a coronavirus sample from a bat in South Africa is currently the closest match to the  MERS-CoV that has infected more than 90 people around the world since 2012. [1] The sample, PML/2011 , was collected from a female Neoromicia zuluensis bat in 2011.   The genus Neoromicia is included in the Vespertilionidae bat family.   Because this sample was collected before the human outbreak, the authors suggest that MERS-CoV may have originated in bat populations in eastern or southern Africa and spread to the Arabian Peninsula. This new development means that surveillance for human MERS-CoV cases need to be expanded beyond the Arabian Peninsula into Africa as well.   Additional coronavirus research on Vespertilionidae bats in Kenya and surrounding countries is urgently needed.   [1] Ithete NL, Stoffberg S, Corman VM, Cottontail VM, Richards LR, Schoeman MC, et al. Close relative ...