WHO has published Middle East respiratory syndrome- coronavirus - update. It tells us a little more about the 5 cases reported yesterday. Excerpt, re-paragraphed:
The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia has notified WHO of an additional five laboratory-confirmed cases with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
All five patients are from the Eastern region of the country, but not from Al-Ahsa, where an outbreak began in a health care facility in April 2013. The patients had underlying medical conditions which required multiple hospital visits. The government is conducting investigations into the likely source of infection in both the health care and the community settings.
The first patient is a 56-year-old man with underlying medical conditions, who became ill on 12 May 2013 and died on 20 May 2013.
The second patient is an 85-year-old woman with underlying medical conditions who became ill on 17 May and is currently in critical condition.
The third patient is a 76-year-old woman with underlying medical conditions who became ill on 24 May 2013 and was discharged from the hospital on 27 May 2013.
The fourth patient is a 77-year-old man with underlying medical conditions who became ill on 19 May and died on 26 May 2013.
The fifth patient is a 73-year-old man with underlying medical conditions who became ill on 18 May and died on 26 May 2013.
Additionally, a patient earlier reported from Al-Ahsa, an 81-year-old woman has died. The government is continuing to investigate the outbreaks in the country.
In France, the first laboratory-confirmed case in the country, with recent travel from the United Arab Emirates has died.
Globally, from September 2012 to date, WHO has been informed of a total of 49 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 27 deaths.
That looks like a 55% case fatality rate—very comparable to the global CFR for H5N1.
