3 more die from MERS in Saudi Arabia as Netherlands reports 2nd case

A second case of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has been detected in the Netherlands, in a relative of the first person known to have been infected with the virus in that country. Both were infected on the same trip to Saudi Arabia, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) said. 

The news comes as health authorities in Saudi Arabia on Thursday announced the deaths of another three people from MERS, taking the country's toll to 160. The virus has also prompted Singapore, which is an important Asian transport hub, to say that it will begin checking travelers from the Middle East for fever. 

The woman infected in the latest case in the Netherlands is in stable condition, and is being treated in isolation at a hospital in the central Dutch city of Zwolle.

Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia the health ministry's daily bulletin on the MERS outbreak said the latest people to die from the virus were two women, ages 72 and 54, and a 63-year-old man.

Since MERS first appeared in Saudi Arabia in 2012, authorities have recorded 514 infections from the mystery virus for which there is currently no known cure.

On Wednesday the World Health Organization (WHO) said its emergency committee, which includes global medical and policy experts, had flagged mounting concerns about the potentially fatal virus but had stopped short of declaring it an international health emergency – a designation that would have far-reaching implications such as travel and trade restrictions on affected countries. 

While most recorded cases have been seen in Saudi Arabia, other nations where MERS has appeared include Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

A WHO team carried out a five-day inspection visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, and pinpointed breaches in its recommended infection prevention measures as being partly responsible for the spike in hospital infections.

MERS is considered a deadlier but less transmissible cousin of the SARS virus that appeared in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, 9 percent of whom died.

Like SARS it appears to cause lung infections, with patients suffering coughing, breathing difficulties and a temperature. But MERS differs in that it also causes rapid kidney failure. Health authorities say it is transmissible mainly through close person-to-person contact and in health care settings.

Singapore’s health ministry, referring to its plan to test visitors for fever, said that even though no cases of the virus have been detected so far, the possibility of an imported case "cannot be ruled out given today's globalized travel patterns."

The WHO on Wednesday told countries to improve infection prevention and control, collect more data on the virus and to be more vigilant in preventing it from spreading to vulnerable countries, notably in Africa.

The WHO has received 571 reports of MERS cases, of which 171 have been fatal. In many of them, victims caught the virus in hospital from other patients. 

Wire services