MERS in camels no cause for panic

DOHA:  Discovery of three MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) cases in camels in a farm in Qatar is no cause for panic since MERS is not a killer disease and the risk of death due the virus is on the decline, the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) said yesterday.
In light of the new finding, the SCH in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has started precautionary measures to prevent  spread of the disease among animals as well as humans.
A nationwide survey focusing on areas where people and animals live together will soon be launched with this objective. No fresh MERS cases have been detected in the country among animals or humans.
Addressing a press conference  yesterday Dr Mohammed Al Thani, director of the Public Health Department at SCH said MERS is not a killer disease and all the patients who died following the infection were suffering from other chronic diseases.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia are the only countries where the disease has been detected in animals. In Qatar, nine people and three camels have been tested positive for the virus until now.  Three Qataris and two expatriates have died due to the disease.
Al Thani said the relation between animals and humans in the spread of the virus is still not known. 
The three camels were found infected following random tests conducted in a farm in Al Shahaniya where 14 camels are living. Two people associated with the farm were also tested positive which led to testing the animals. All the camels in the farm were locally bred and they have no history of mingling with other animals.
“We  still don’t know who was infected first, the humans or the camels. The new findings will help us know the nature of the disease, life cycle of the virus and ways of transfer and prevention,” Al Thani said, adding the discovery had drawn international attention.
He said the cases were confirmed following tests conducted in a laboratory in the Netherlands. An international team will soon arrive in Qatar to conduct further investigation.
Dr Mohammed Al Hajri, SCH’s Communicable Diseases Control Section head, said the proposed nationwide survey will be carried out by collecting samples from animals and humans from different parts of the country. The survey will cover not only camels but also other livestock, including the imported ones.
“We are going to conduct a comprehensive survey for all areas where there is a mixing  between animals and humans. The situation is stable and there is no new cases in the country,” said Al  Hajri.
“The virus is dangerous for those who have a chronic disease. The danger is in fact declining. In the beginning the risk of death due to the virus was 60 per cent but now it has dropped to 42 per cent,” he added.
He said the specialised laboratory at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), which conducts MERS tests on human samples, has equipment to test the animals as well. 
“We have the device and we are waiting for diagnostic kits,” said Al Hajri.
SCH’s  Surveillance Outbreak Section head Dr Hamad Al Rumaihi said until now MERS tests were conducted in 4,323 suspected human cases, of whom nine tested positive.
Experts from the Ministry of Environment clarified that the proposed survey will cover not only locally-bred animals but also the imported ones. There is also a plan to test imported livestock at the ports of entry.
Currently, there are about 600,000 locally-bred animals in the country, including more than 65,000 camels.
Some basic precautions like washing the hands and cooking the meat properly can prevent the spread of the disease from animals to humans.  “This is a weak virus and there is nothing much to worry about it,” said an expert.
The Director of Animal Resources Department at the ministry, Farhoud Hadi Al Hajri, Animal Resources Department Veterinary epidemiologist Dr Nazem Ghobashy and Chief Industrial Inspection engineer at the ministry Engineer Khalid Abdullah Al Yafei were also present at the press conference.
The Peninsula