Initiate action against Mers on war footing

When the World Health Organisation spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said the other day that “the increase in the number of Mers (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or Mers coronavirus) cases in different countries raises a number of questions”, he was echoing the concern of everyone worried about the infection which does not have a vaccine and has left experts struggling to establish why it has become so potent.

Saudi Arabia’s death toll from Mers has risen to 139 fatalities since the mystery virus first appeared in the kingdom in 2012. The WHO is to hold  an emergency meeting tomorrow over concerns about the spread of the disease. The WHO’s emergency committee has already met four times.

There are fears that secondary infections may be rising, raising the potential for a greater global spread, and stirring memories of the Sars virus, which claimed more than 700 lives in East Asia in 2003.

Mers is a coronavirus, like Sars, but is not transmitted as easily. However, more than 30% of people infected with it die, as opposed to a 10% mortality rate with Sars. The relatively high death rate has alarmed health officials across the region.

More than 480 people have been infected in Saudi Arabia which is having a tough time devising a strategy to combat the virus.

Most of those who became ill with Mers in Saudi Arabia were either hospital staff or patients who had been admitted for some other reason. Infected patients typically suffer from a lung infection that causes fever, coughing and breathing difficulties. Some also suffer rapid kidney failure.

Many Mers deaths in Saudi Arabia have occurred in the western city of Madinah, Makkah and the Red Sea port of Jeddah. All three cities are closely associated with the annual Haj pilgrimage, with commercial capital Jeddah being the main point of entry for pilgrims from overseas.

Cases have earlier been reported in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, the UAE, Oman, Yemen, Tunisia, the UK, the US, Germany, Italy, Greece, France, Philippines, Malaysia and Lebanon. Qatar had announced three Mers related deaths until November 19, 2013, after which no cases have been reported.

Considering the huge expatriate population in Saudi Arabia and the millions who visit the country for the Haj pilgrimage, the WHO, the Saudi authorities and all other countries have to rise to the occasion to arrest the further spread of Mers at the earliest.

All indications are that the disease is spreading across the world. Among the most recent examples are the first Mers case in the US (the patient, who lives in Saudi Arabia, fell ill when visiting family in Indiana but he has since been recovered) and the first suspected case of infection in the southern Indian state of Kerala, which has nearly 1mn of its natives working in the largest GCC country.

It is high time that the WHO, Saudi Arabia and all other countries initiate action against Mers on war footing. Any procedural or bureaucratic delays could prove costly.