Posted on 02/21/2013 7:47:00 PM PST by null and void
AFP - Another person suffering from a SARS-like virus has died in Saudi Arabia, the World Health Organization said Thursday, bringing the worldwide number of fatalities from the mystery illness to seven.
The Saudi health ministry had informed the UN's health body that the patient had been hospitalised on January 29 and had died on February 10, WHO said in a statement.
A laboratory had confirmed on February 18 that the person had died from the so-called novel coronavirus, or NCoV, it added.
This brings to 13 the number of cases of the virus that have so far been reported to the WHO since it was first detected in the middle of last year, with six previous fatalities -- three in Saudi Arabia, two in Jordan and one in Britain.
The news comes just days after a person suffering from the virus died in hospital in central England on Sunday.
That patient, who had a pre-existing health condition, was one of three people in the same family with the virus, which appeared to have been caught by one of the family members during a recent visit to the Middle East and Pakistan.
Even before the death in Britain, the WHO had on Saturday urged its member states to keep a close eye on any cases of severe acute respiratory infections, like pneumonia, and to "carefully review any unusual patterns."
Health authorities should test for NCoV in cases of unexplained pneumonia or other severe, "progressive or complicated respiratory illnesses not responding to treatment, particularly in persons travelling from or resident in areas of the world known to be affected," it said.
It also urged testing of any health workers showing such symptoms, and thorough investigations of clusters of cases, regardless of where they occur in the world.
WHO meanwhile did not recommend any travel or trade restriction in connection with the virus.
Coronaviruses cause most common colds but can also cause SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).
The new virus however is different from SARS, especially in that it causes rapid kidney failure.
A SARS epidemic killed more than 800 people when it swept out of China in 2003, sparking a major international health scare.
Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.
Ping...(thanks, nully!)
Thanks for the ping!
You’re Welcome, Alamo-Girl!
“I’m not dead. I’m not dead. I’m getting better.”
thanks!
Remember this?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/892243/posts
SARS ( atypical pneumonia )- a partial archive
various FR links | 04-13-03 | The Heavy Equipment Guy
A critical thing to look at with such diseases is its communicability curve. In this case, so far it has been low, something like “1..1..1..1..1..”, showing that it does not have really effective transmission. Yet.
Influenza, on the other hand, has been compared to a brush fire in its communicability, which is so fast and effective that it can be observed at the macro level, coming in waves, with, again like a brush fire, scorching one area and mysteriously leaving an adjacent area untouched.
But unusually, as influenza is about tops of every other kind of scale for disease, norovirus beats it for communicability. It does this in several ways.
First is it spreads by contamination, but not coughing and sneezing, which have limitations. It transmits by aerosols and contamination from its victims vomit and feces. And those unlucky souls caught on cruise plague ships will tell you that its victims are spraying vomit and feces everywhere. Even flush toilets are of no help, because when they flush, it sends a cloud of contaminated water mist to every surface of the restroom and adjacent rooms.
Universal rule #2: Stool gets everywhere.
Seven people in the whole world have died from a virus. Scares me for sure.
Yep. The whole point of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning, as such it has a high false positive rate.
So far the false positive rate is 100%.
At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.
*sigh* Such is life...
OK, have they blamed the Jews yet?
Not that I know of. I don’t think they’ve called it Apes And Pigs Flu yet, either...
Well it’s Friday, so I’m sure there’ll be some Imam preaching it in a sermon today.
I can almost guarantee that nobody will spot patient zero.
But since the most likely X-high mortality pandemic right now is H5N1, it will generally follow influenza’s unique propagation pattern, starting with two week intervals between exponentially increasing data points. That is, by the time there is city zero, the invisible spread is nationwide and starting to move internationally.
The pings are greatly appreciated, no mistake. Who knows what value a piece of information is going to be later.
I figger I can be informed without being scared to death (at least I hope).
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