Free Republic

The US moratorium on gain-of-function experiments has been rescinded, but scientists are split over the benefits—and risks—of such studies. Talha Burki reports. On Dec 19, 2017, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that they would resume funding gain-of-function experiments involving influenza, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. A moratorium had been in place since October, 2014. At the time, the NIH had stated that the moratorium “will be effective until a robust and broad deliberative process is completed that results in the adoption of a new US Government gain-of-function research policy”. This process...

THe World Health Organisation suggests on a recent outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia (among other things): Food hygiene practices should be observed. People should avoid drinking raw camel milk or camel urine, or eating meat that has not been properly cooked.

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Southern California doctors and health officials will be on the lookout for Muslim pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia with flu-like symptoms in the wake of a reported outbreak of a SARS-like virus in the Middle East, according to a report. L.A. County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Jonathan Fielding told the Los Angeles Times severe coughs or other similar symptoms could signal the arrival of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, or MERS-CoV, to the Southland. While MERS-CoV has so far only been reported in the Mideast and Europe, doctors and emergency departments will be...

Virus Hangs Over Islamic Pilgrimage To Mecca Health officials in the U.S. will be on the alert for anyone returning from the Middle East with symptoms of MERS, a mysterious and potentially deadly illness. Laila Shifa, left, helps her daughter, Homaira Hamid, center, and husband Jahan pack in their Northridge apartment for their hajj pilgrimage. The couple are bringing face masks to help guard against the MERS virus, which has been detected in the Middle East. By Eryn Brown October 9 After they got married last year, Homaira and Jahan Hamid decided they would embark on the hajj pilgrimage to...

Ever since people in the Middle East started dying of a mysterious new infection last year, scientists have been trying to pinpoint the source of the outbreak. Now they may finally have found a clue in an unlikely population: retired racing camels.

Enlarge Image Crowd control? Public health experts worry that the annual hajj could increase the incidence of MERS. Credit: Bluemangoa2z/Wikimedia Commons The World Health Organization (WHO) is convening an emergency committee to determine whether the novel coronavirus that emerged in the Middle East last year constitutes a "public health emergency of international concern." Keiji Fukuda, Assistant Director-General for Health Security and Environment at the WHO, announced the move at a press conference today in Geneva. Fukuda said the committee would be drawn from a roster established under International Health Regulations and include experts in public health, epidemiology, virology and...

More than two million Muslims descend on Mecca for the annual Hajj each year. Saudi authorities are advising pilgrims to wear face masks in overcrowded places. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File) (CNSNews.com) – As Saudi and U.N. health authorities report new infections from a troubling new respiratory disease, there are concerns that the approaching Hajj – the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca – could increase the risk of spreading the virus as pilgrims return to their home countries. Meanwhile the U.S. government, in a notice published in the Federal Register Wednesday, declared that the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV, or...

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) continues to spread. Health officials in Saudi Arabia have confirmed that three more people had died from the virus, ABC News reported. At least 38 cases have been reported in the country, and 24 of them have been fatal. Little is known about the rapidly-spreading viral respiratory illness, which first appeared in 2012. Before the recent Saudi cases, WHO was notified of at least 50 people instances of MERS, 30 of which were fatal. In addition to the recent one in Italy, clusters have been confirmed in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United...

Enlarge Image It shall be called. Researchers are proposing a name for new coronavirus (yellow): Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Credit: NIAID/RML A group of coronavirus experts has published its proposal to name a new, deadly virus after the Middle East, the region where it originates. In a short paper published online today by the Journal of Virology, the Coronavirus Study Group (CSG), along with several other scientists, recommends calling the pathogen Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-Cov). As ScienceInsider reported last week, the group, part of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, hopes to end confusion...