MERS likely to spread as UAE-Saudi travel increases.

MERS likely to spread as UAE-Saudi travel increases.(Croft).

Via The National, a report datelined Abu Dhabi: Mers virus likely to spread as UAE-Saudi travel increases. Excerpt:

The Mers virus is more likely to spread as travel increases between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where most cases of the disease have been found, doctors have warned. 

The Haj will take place in October and Saudi authorities have advised the sick and elderly not to make pilgrimages this year. Those who do travel have been advised to wear face masks. 

More immediately, with unrest elsewhere in the Middle East disrupting holiday plans, increasing numbers of Saudi travellers are now heading for the UAE. That, too, increases the risk that the disease might spread, doctors say. 

The problem is that experts do not know how the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (Mers-CoV) is spread. 

"We have not confirmed how it is transmitted. We know that Mers-CoV is in the community and I would say everyone, especially medical establishments and emergency departments, needs to be vigilant," said NG Wai-Khuan, the infection prevention section head at Mafraq Hospital in Abu Dhabi. 

The 82nd victim of the virus is in intensive care in an Abu Dhabi hospital after the condition was diagnosed at the weekend. The Emirati, 82, was already being treated for multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. Patients with existing conditions are particularly susceptible to Mers. 

Although Mers has a high mortality rate - of 65 people infected in Saudi Arabia, 38 have died - the spread of infection has been very low: about 20 cases a month.