Case report: Detection of the Middle East respiratory syndrome corona virus (MERS-CoV) in nasal secretions of a dead human

Mahallawi, Waleed H.

Additionally, suspected or confirmed patients must also use a mask before exiting the room and should relocate using isolated paths to avoid communication with non-MERS patients. All these precautions are obligatory and must be followed to avoid the catastrophic situations that occurred in Saudi Arabian MERS patients 15 as well as those in South Korean hospital settings. 16 Therefore, when dealing with patients with a MERS-CoV infection, the precautions must include negative pressure isolation rooms well equipped with HEPA filters. In addition, those patients should be reserved in a single-occupancy isolated room. 17 In the case of patient death, and depending on our finding, the deceased should be treated as infectious and as having the possibility to transmit the infection. A postmortem caretaker wearing PPE must cover the body in accordance with corpse handling guidelines. No washing, wiping, or undressing of the body should be done. Additionally, the external surfaces of the body bag must be sanitized and placed into a second bag for double sealing. 18