Since September 2012, the new Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus known as MERS-CoV is confirmed to have infected 53 people, 30 of whom have died, announced the World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday.
So far, all the infected cases had direct or indirect relation to Middle East - thus the name - but recently there has been a growing fear that the virus could spread quickly over the entire world.
The disease was first diagnosed in Saudi Arabia last year and the virus, a coronavirus, belongs to the same viral family that triggered the outbreak of SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which killed 775 people in 2003. As far as the symptoms goes, the disease manifests at first like a severe stomach virus accompanied by breathing problems. As it progresses, the disease can lead to pneumonia and kidney failure.
Scientists don't know yet how the virus is transmitted to people.
"We are assuming that they are being exposed inadvertently to an infected animal. The characteristics are that it doesn't spread well at all from person to person, so it doesn't have what's called sustained transmissibility from you to me, from me to my family, etcetera,'' said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Although the number of cases is below alarming levels, Fauci said there is growing concern the deadly virus could mutate and spread by direct human contact. If that happens, a global outbreak could be ignited.
"When you look at a typical influenza virus, for example seasonal flu, where you have millions and millions of people infected, the mortality is less than one percent, a fraction of a percent. The mortality for this if you do the math is 50 cases and you have 30 deaths, so you are talking about a 60 percent mortality already," said Fauci.
So far, the virus was detected in Middle East countries and isolated cases have been reported in Europe, probably brought by visitors.
