Amid more reports of MERS-related in Saudi Arabia, where the virus has already claimed over 66 lives, Yemen health officials confirmed on Sunday that a man had passed away in Sana’a after having contracted the deadly viral infection.
Also known as the Corona virus, MERS is a viral respiratory illness. The first case of outbreak was reported in Saudi Arabia back in 2012. As per identified by WHO (World Health Organization) the disease is caused by a coronavirus called MERS-CoV. Most infected people will present symptoms such as: fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Extremely deadly MERS’ death rate hovers around 50%.
So far the virus only seems to have been able to be passed on through close contact with infected people and has been geographically limited to the Arabian Peninsula.
Speaking on how the virus is spread, WHO wrote in a report, “The virus has spread from ill people to others through close contact. However, the virus has not shown to spread in a sustained way in communities. The situation is still evolving.”
Yemen Minister of Health, Ahmed al Ansi was quoted by al-Thawra newspaper as saying, “Medical personnel have recorded one case of the coronavirus in Sanaa and the victim is a Yemeni man who works as an aeronautics engineer.”
He added, "The ministry is working in effective cooperation with the World Health Organisation to confront this virus and is in direct and constant communication with all hospitals to receive information on any other suspected cases.”