MERS Experts Fret About Deadly Virus' Great Unknowns

[cronus]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/0 ... 63502.html

MERS Experts Fret About Deadly Virus' Great Unknowns

ISTANBUL -- With cases of a virulent and highly fatal pathogen on the rise, including the first-known occurrence in the United States, epidemiologists and public health officials say some of their biggest concerns about the disease lie in the basic information that they still don't have about it.

The virus, called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, is closely related to SARS, which spread rapidly across Asia a decade ago, leaving some 800 people dead. So far, MERS, which has a higher fatality rate than SARS and no known vaccine or cure, has proven to be much less of a public health risk because its transmission rate, or how easy it is to spread between humans, has remained low.

But there are anecdotal hints that the disease could be bucking that trend, including a dramatic uptick in the number of sick patients in Saudi Arabia, where the outbreak is centered. More than 400 people have been infected with the disease so far, almost all of them in the Middle East. The virus, which can cause "severe acute respiratory illness,"according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has killed about one-third of those who have contracted it.

Official health groups like the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control still describe the risk of worldwide pandemic as low, but epidemiologists and public health experts say critical blank spots in the scientific understanding of the virus need to be filled in order to be sure.

"We don't know exactly what's happening," said Dr. David Swerdlow, the head of the MERS monitoring team at the U.S. CDC. "I think there are still some questions that are unanswered about how it's transmitted, how commonly it's occurring, what the prevalence is in the population, what is the spectrum of illness."

Until recently, infections from the disease largely seemed to occur in patients who had direct contact with an infected camel, which is believed to be the source of the disease, or with health care workers who spend extensive time with the most ill patients.

But a recent report by the World Health Organization said that 75% of new infections were transmitted between humans alone, and most of the latest Saudi patients had no known exposure either to camels or health care facilities.

(to be continued, doomed?)

[Hermit]

(to be continued, doomed?)

^^^ If you could buy 100% pure Scumplism, you'd get a bottle of this.

[JimC]

Scumple needs to cuddle a kitty...

[cronus]

Scumple needs to cuddle a kitty...

Went to the pub the other day and fed a huge dog my packet of crisps, partly out of fear, done my duty for the animal kingdom this week.

[laklak]

Some day you'll be in a tight spot, maybe zombies will have you cornered. Out of nowhere the big dog will appear, and give you a packet of crisps.