Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health

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Volume 10, Issue 1, March 2020, Pages 1 - 3

COVID-19 in the Shadows of MERS-CoV in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Authors
Mazin Barry1, †, Maha Al Amri2, †, Ziad A. Memish3, 4, 5, *
1Division of Infectious Disease, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
2Department of Infectious Disease, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
3Director Research and Innovation Centre, King Saud Medical City, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
4College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
5Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
†

Additional information: MB, mbarry@ksu.edu.sa; MAA, malamari70@kfshrc.edu.sa

*Corresponding author. Email: zmemish@yahoo.com
Corresponding Author
Ziad A. Memish
Received 16 February 2020, Accepted 16 February 2020, Available Online 21 February 2020.
DOI
10.2991/jegh.k.200218.003How to use a DOI?
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2; MERS-CoV; COVID-19; Saudi Arabia
Abstract

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has plagued the Middle East since it was first reported in 2012. Recently, at the end of December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia cases were reported from Wuhan city, Hubei Province, China, linked to a wet seafood market with a new coronavirus identified as the etiologic agent currently named SARS-CoV-2. Most cases are in Mainland China with international spread to 25 countries. The novelty of the virus, the rapid national and international spread, and the lack of therapeutic and preventative strategies have led the WHO International Health Regulation emergency committee to declare the disease as Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on January 30, 2020. As it relates to countries with the ongoing MERS-CoV community cases and hospital acquired infections, there will be a huge challenge for HCWs to deal with both coronaviruses, especially with the lack of standardized and approved point of care testing. This challenge will now be faced by the whole global health community dealing with COVID-19 since both coronaviruses have similar presentation. Those patients should now be tested for both MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 simultaneously, and with the continuing wide international spread of SARS-CoV-2, the travel history to China in the last 14 days will be of less significance

Copyright
© 2020 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press International B.V.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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Next Article In Issue>
Journal
Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
Volume-Issue
10 - 1
Pages
1 - 3
Publication Date
2020/02/21
ISSN (Online)
2210-6014
ISSN (Print)
2210-6006
DOI
10.2991/jegh.k.200218.003How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2020 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press International B.V.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - JOUR
AU  - Mazin Barry
AU  - Maha Al Amri
AU  - Ziad A. Memish
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/02/21
TI  - COVID-19 in the Shadows of MERS-CoV in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
JO  - Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
SP  - 1
EP  - 3
VL  - 10
IS  - 1
SN  - 2210-6014
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/jegh.k.200218.003
DO  - 10.2991/jegh.k.200218.003
ID  - Barry2020
ER  -