MERS-CoV is a Threat to Healthcare Workers and Hospital Patients
Recently, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) produced a summary report on the status of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak for the 130+ cases that have been reported since March 2012 [1]. While epidemiological data about these cases are presented in this report, several aspects of the report need further elaboration and discussion. As discussed on a USA Center for Disease Control web page [2] and noted in the ECDC report, human clusters are prevalent for this novel disease. At least 14 MERS-CoV clusters have been reported. Single clusters have been reported from several countries, France, Italy, Jordan, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom. And the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has reported more than 100 MERS-CoV cases, has experienced at least seven cluster outbreaks in seven separate geographic areas. The ECDC authors state We identified 14 clusters of 2-34 cases, where the primary cases were identified or suspected. How...