Health officials propose action over MERS

More than 100 public health officials recently met at WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office in Cairo to discuss ways to detect, control and treat emerging cases of Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome, or MERS, coronavirus, according to a WHO press release.

The officials, who came from all countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe that have been affected by MERS outbreaks, agreed to standardize protocols to quickly report new MERS cases with as much detail as possible, including providing information about contact histories, clinical care and treatment outcomes.

“Having the same tools and protocols in all countries allows us to draw on and implement best practice from around the world, and to pool our information and resources most effectively on an international level,” Ala Alwan, MD, WHO regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said in a press release.

Health officials also agreed to improvements in surveillance, communications, preparations for mass gatherings, clinical management of cases, laboratory diagnostics, infection control and International Health Regulations reporting.

“At the moment, we have an important window where cases have still been relatively few and human transmission is relatively limited,” said Keiji Fukuda, MD, WHO assistant director-general for health security and the environment. “We need to exploit this chance to agree and implement the best public health measures possible across the board … in so doing, we stand the best chance of controlling this virus before it spreads further.”

Keiji Fukuda

Since September, there have been 64 laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with MERS and 38 deaths, according to WHO. The following countries have been affected by MERS: Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Laboratory-confirmed cases also have been reported in France, Germany, Italy, Tunisia and the United Kingdom.