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MERS

Experts are most concerned about the MERS coronavirus, according to a report by an expert panel last month.

The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus is viral respiratory illness that was recently recognized in humans. 

The virus kills four in 10 patients.

It was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. 

Since, it has spread to other countries, including the United States. Two U.S. healthcare professionals were diagnosed with MERS in 2014 after traveling in the Arabian Peninsula.  

SYMPTOMS

A patient tends to show symptoms about five days after being infected.

The symptoms include:  

• fever 
• cough 
• shortness of breath 
• diarrhea (occasional)
• nausea/vomiting (occasional)
• developing severe respiratory illness

WHO IS MOST AFFECTED? 

It has affected patients as young as one and as old as 99.

People are more susceptible to MERS if they have pre-existing medical conditions such as diabetes, cancer, chronic lung disease, heart disease, or kidney disease.

Individuals with weakened immune systems – such as those on HIV drugs – are also at higher risk of getting MERS.  

The most at-risk are:

• recent travelers from the Arabian Peninsula
• people who have had close contact, such as caring for or living with, an ill traveler from the Arabian Peninsula
• people who have had close contact, such as caring for or living with, a confirmed case of MERS
• healthcare personnel who do not use recommended infection-control precautions
• people who have had contact with camels 

LASSA VIRUS 

Lassa virus is in the same family as Ebola. 

It causes a fever – called Lassa fever – which is an acute viral hemorrhagic illness. 

The virus  is transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or feces.

The disease is endemic in the rodent population in parts of West Africa.

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms usually come on between six and 21 days after being infected.

They start gradually, with symptoms including:

• fever
• general weakness
• malaise

Within a few days, it progresses to: 

• headache
• sore throat
• muscle pain
• chest pain
• nausea
• vomiting
• diarrhea
• cough
• abdominal pain 

In severe cases: 

• facial swelling
• fluid in the lung cavity
• bleeding from the mouth, nose, vagina or gastrointestinal tract 
• low blood pressure

NIPAH VIRUS

The Nipah virus was first identified during an outbreak among pigs in Malaysia in 1998. 

Six years later there was an outbreak among humans in Bangladesh, stemming from dates that had been contaminated by fruit flies. 

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms typically arise within two weeks of infection. 

At first they include: 

• fever 
• headache
• drowsiness
• disorientation 
• mental confusion

These signs and symptoms can progress to coma within 24-48 hours. 

Some patients have a respiratory illness during the early part of their infections, and half of the patients showing severe neurological signs showed also pulmonary signs.

During the Nipah virus disease outbreak in 1998-99, 265 patients were infected with the virus. 

About 40 percent of those patients who entered hospitals with serious nervous disease died from the illness.

Long-term Nipah virus infection can lead to persistent convulsions and personality changes.

Latent infections with subsequent reactivation of Nipah virus and death have also been reported months and even years after exposure.