Deadly Virus Disease MERS Spreads in Saudi Arabia

Just why the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS) is so rapidly spreading like wildfire has everyone dumbfounded. The jump in MERS cases in Saudi Arabia has caused its health minister fired from his post by King Abdullah as victims skyrocket to over 90 deaths and a total of 300 infected.

The panic is in the coming months when millions will make their pilgrimage to Mecca and other religious sites. The diseases kills 1 in 3 of its victims. The dire situation in SA is that although only 90 or so have been killed worldwide from MERS, of those, 81 were in SA! The same applies to total victims, that is, there are over 300 worldwide, but within Saudi Arabia, there are 261 cases.

So, the mystery is why such a high concentration in a place of such wealth. In just one day, the country reported 17 new cases. The Saudi health minister has taken to public airwaves and the Internet for everyone to wear masks while many medical professionals on Twitter state the country is minimizing the danger. Symptoms include developing upper-respiratory-tract illnesses, fever, cough and shortness of breath. The virus has spread from person to person, particularly in hospitals. How it is transmitted include airborne and touching. The MERS virus resides in camels and has just recently started to jump over to humans. Research has shown that once a second person has been infected, the virus does not transmit to additional people, so there is no sustained infections, yet, it does spread easily and the first case in Egypt has now been reported. The person had been a passenger on a flight from Saudi Arabia. If the the virus gets a foothold in Egypt, it could expand rapidly. The incubation time after being exposed to it is around 14 days before flu-like symptoms appear.

With MERS, there is no vaccine or cure.