Case characteristics among Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreak and non-outbreak cases in Saudi Arabia from 2012 to 2015

Alhamlan, F S; Majumder, M S; Brownstein, J S; Hawkins, J; Al-Abdely, H M; Alzahrani, A; Obaid, D A; Al-Ahdal, M N; BinSaeed, A

Following the isolation of a previously unknown coronavirus (CoV) from the sputum of a man aged 60 years in 2012, 1 1618 laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) have been reported throughout 26 countries, with 579 cases resulting in death. 2 The vast majority of these 26 countries reported MERS cases after experiencing an exportation event from the Arabian Peninsula. 3 4 Most cases to date have occurred in Saudi Arabia, followed by South Korea, which experienced an outbreak of MERS after the return of an infected businessman who had been travelling in Middle East. 5 The exact zoonotic source of MERS-CoV and its mode of transmission in humans remain unclear. Although related sequences have been detected in several bat species, 6 MERS-CoV has not been isolated from bats. However, MERS-CoV has been isolated from dromedary camels. A high rate of seropositivity has been confirmed in the camels of were abstracted and analysed. â–ª This is the first report to retrieve the epidemiological, demographic and clinical characteristics of MERS data from this database and analyse these data using univariate and descriptive statistical analyses. â–ª However, major leadership changes in the Saudi MOH during the study period led to alterations in the data collection forms as well as the surveillance system. â–ª These alterations caused some inconsistencies in the data acquired from the Saudi MOH database that may limit the interpretation of the study results.