WHO has published Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – Lebanon. Excerpt:
On 19 June 2017, the national IHR focal point of Lebanon reported one additional case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection.
Details of the case
Detailed information concerning the case reported can be found in a separate document (see link below).
MERS-CoV case reported on 19 June 2017. xlsx, 40kb [click or tap through to download the spreadsheet]
A 39-year-old male Lebanese national living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia developed mild symptoms on 8 June 2017. As the patient was a health care worker and due to enhanced Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) surveillance activities ongoing in Riyadh, a nasopharyngeal swab was collected on 11 June 2017 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and tested negative for MERS-CoV by PCR at the Riyadh Regional Laboratory.
The case is without a history of comorbid conditions. He does not work in a health care facility with active MERS patients, has not had contact with an identified confirmed MERS case, nor has had known contact with a patient with respiratory illness. He has no history of contact with dromedaries in the 14 days prior to the onset of the symptoms.
On 11 June 2017, the case travelled from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon and reported that he had no symptoms while travelling. On 15 June, he developed gastrointestinal symptoms and a medical investigation was initiated on the same day in Lebanon, whereupon a chest X-ray confirmed the diagnosis of pneumonia. A lower respiratory specimen was collected 16 June 2017 and tested positive for MERS-CoV.
The case was reported to Ministry of Public Health on the same day. The case was placed in home isolation. The case has been asymptomatic since 17 June 2017, and two consecutive nasopharyngeal swabs and one lower respiratory sample were collected and tested negative for MERS-CoV by PCR, on 17, 19 and 23 June 2017, respectively.
The patient was released from home isolation on 23 June 2017. All contacts in Lebanon have tested negative for MERS-CoV. Contact tracing in Saudi Arabia and the source of infection are under investigation by the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia.
Globally, 2037 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV including at least 710 related deaths have been reported to WHO.
