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Currently, at least 122 people have been infected with MERS in South Korea, all from a single index case who became sick in mid-May. The index case had visited several health care facilities before being diagnosed and hospitalized. Several health care workers became infected while examining this individual prior to hospitalization. The index case exposed a number of people to the MERS coronavirus during his hospitalization. Several of these exposed individuals were released from the hospital and later became symptomatic and were later diagnosed with MERS. By that time, some these individuals had infected others and the chain of transmission began. An important component of breaking the transmission chain and containing an infectious disease outbreak is restricting its geographic spread. As of June, 11, 2015, South Korean health authorities have identified 38 hospitals where MERS patients are currently being treated or where MERS patients apparently visited prior to being diagnosed. Th...

Several outbreaks of MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) have been reported in hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during this past week. According to a computer translation of a current media report ( link ), as many as 21 locally confirmed MERS cases have been identified in Jeddah.   These cases include nine cases at   King Abdulaziz University Hospital, seven at King Fahd Hospital,   and five at King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital.   These outbreaks include both doctors and nurses.     In addition, the report suggest that the Jeddah National Guard hospital, King Abdulaziz Medical City,   will also process MERS cases if necessary. The map below depicts the locations of these four hospitals in the Jeddah area. T he source of  the MERS coronavirus have been reported to be camels for some human cases. The source of infection for the cases in Jeddah is unclear, but at least several health care workers have been infected and one died indicating t...

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...