MERS: What is the current situation in Saudi Arabia?

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Ziad Memish, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-01-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © International Society of Travel Medicine, 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jtm/tay065
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Travel Medicine
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 1
• Grant/Funding Information: None declared
• Keywords: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus; Coronavirus Infections; Travel; Crowding; Humans; Saudi Arabia; Disease Outbreaks; Adult; Female; Male
• Research Categories: Sociology, Public and Social Welfare; Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Health Sciences, Health Care Management; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Five years have passed since the first case of MERS-CoV was reported in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (SA) in September 2012, only a few weeks before that year's Hajj season. The global public health community was extremely concerned and on alert for the possibility of an impending pandemic from the new emerging coronavirus from the SARS family. The Ministry of Health (MoH) of SA worked tirelessly with key regional, global public health and academic partners to put in place an appropriate plan and recommendations for safeguarding the arriving 2 million international pilgrims.1 To the global medical community's surprise, the executed plan for the Hajj 2012 season was a successful one. Further, to better define the virus, its source, pathogenesis and national and global epidemiology, modes of transmission and best infection control measures to prevent its acquisition and spread, an exhaustive research agenda was developed and executed by the SA MoH.