LOC10:01
07:01 GMT
DOHA, Sept 7 (KUNA) -- The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) in Qatar has
announced the recovery of a patient inflected with MERS coronavirus and
another passed away from the same deadly illness.
The first patient started to show signs of the virus on August 15 before he
came back from a trip outside the country. Once he was in the country, he was
admitted to hospital to receive proper treatment. After a course of treatment,
he recovered, the SCH statement read Saturday.
The second patient, meanwhile, was battling several health issues. On
August 17, he started showing signs of the deadly respiratory disease. He died
after he was admitted to the intensive care unit.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is viral respiratory illness first
reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It is caused by a coronavirus called
MERS-CoV. Most people who have been confirmed to have MERS-CoV infection
developed severe acute respiratory illness. They had fever, cough, and
shortness of breath. About half of these people died.
So far, all the cases have been linked to four countries in or near the
Arabian Peninsula. No cases have been identified in the US. This virus has
spread from ill people to others through close contact. However, the virus has
not shown to spread in a sustained way in communities. (end)
nnd.nfm
KUNA 071001 Sep 13NNNN