Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Snip from article by Helen Banswell
Kuwait joins countries with MERS infections; Spain tests 2nd probable case
November 18, 2013
Health officials in Spain have confirmed they have found a second probable case of the new disease, in a woman who attended the Hajj in Saudi Arabia in October.
The press office of Spain's ministry of health said the woman travelled to and from Saudi Arabia with Spain's other probable MERS case. The two women shared sleeping quarters during the trip.
"There is not enough evidence to conclude if there has been person-to-person spread from the first to the second case, or if both cases have been infected from a common source," the ministry said in an email Monday.
The two women have recovered and have been discharged from hospital, the ministry said. Authorities have looked to see if the women infected others, either on the plane on which they journeyed back to Spain or among their contacts in the country. But to date everyone checked has tested negative.
At this point, the two women are classified as probable cases. While they tested positive for the MERS coronavirus, the WHO case definition for confirmed cases requires additional testing.
Spanish authorities, who last week announced they had found the country's first case of MERS, are now awaiting the results of those confirmatory tests.
See more at: http://www.nanaimodailynews.com/new...d-probable-case-1.700911#sthash.Oga5SCFH.dpuf
Kuwait joins countries with MERS infections; Spain tests 2nd probable case
November 18, 2013
Health officials in Spain have confirmed they have found a second probable case of the new disease, in a woman who attended the Hajj in Saudi Arabia in October.
The press office of Spain's ministry of health said the woman travelled to and from Saudi Arabia with Spain's other probable MERS case. The two women shared sleeping quarters during the trip.
"There is not enough evidence to conclude if there has been person-to-person spread from the first to the second case, or if both cases have been infected from a common source," the ministry said in an email Monday.
The two women have recovered and have been discharged from hospital, the ministry said. Authorities have looked to see if the women infected others, either on the plane on which they journeyed back to Spain or among their contacts in the country. But to date everyone checked has tested negative.
At this point, the two women are classified as probable cases. While they tested positive for the MERS coronavirus, the WHO case definition for confirmed cases requires additional testing.
Spanish authorities, who last week announced they had found the country's first case of MERS, are now awaiting the results of those confirmatory tests.
See more at: http://www.nanaimodailynews.com/new...d-probable-case-1.700911#sthash.Oga5SCFH.dpuf
