Response to Emergence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2013-2014

In January 2013, several months after Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first identified in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, began surveillance for MERS-CoV. We analyzed medical chart and laboratory data collected by the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi during Janua...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging infectious diseases 2016-07, Vol.22 (7), p.1162-1168
Main Authors: Al Hosani, Farida Ismail, Pringle, Kimberly, Al Mulla, Mariam, Kim, Lindsay, Pham, Huong, Alami, Negar N, Khudhair, Ahmed, Hall, Aron J, Aden, Bashir, El Saleh, Feda, Al Dhaheri, Wafa, Al Bandar, Zyad, Bunga, Sudhir, Abou Elkheir, Kheir, Tao, Ying, Hunter, Jennifer C, Nguyen, Duc, Turner, Andrew, Pradeep, Krishna, Sasse, Jurgen, Weber, Stefan, Tong, Suxiang, Whitaker, Brett L, Haynes, Lia M, Curns, Aaron, Gerber, Susan I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
asymptomatic infection
Communicable Diseases, Emerging
Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology
Coronavirus Infections - virology
Female
Humans
Male
Medicine, Preventive
MERS-CoV
Methods
Middle Aged
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus
Preventive health services
public health surveillance
Response to Emergence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2013–2014
Retrospective Studies
risk factors
Sentinel health events
United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates - epidemiology
Young Adult
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Summary:In January 2013, several months after Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first identified in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, began surveillance for MERS-CoV. We analyzed medical chart and laboratory data collected by the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi during January 2013-May 2014. Using real-time reverse transcription PCR, we tested respiratory tract samples for MERS-CoV and identified 65 case-patients. Of these patients, 23 (35%) were asymptomatic at the time of testing, and 4 (6%) showed positive test results for >3 weeks (1 had severe symptoms and 3 had mild symptoms). We also identified 6 clusters of MERS-CoV cases. This report highlights the potential for virus shedding by mildly ill and asymptomatic case-patients. These findings will be useful for MERS-CoV management and infection prevention strategies.
ISSN:1080-6040
1080-6059
DOI:10.3201/eid2207.160040