Saudis and MERS messaging - Saudi Arabia was ranked # 158 last year on Press freedom.

YES 149 CASES!

Saudis and MERS messaging - Saudi Arabia was ranked # 158 last year on Press freedom.HT: Croft.
At Avian Flu Diary, Mike Coston has a very interesting post: MERS And Rumors Of MERS. Excerpt:

When it comes to freedom of the press, Saudi Arabia was ranked # 158 last year by Reporters Without Borders; marginally better than Cuba and Egypt, but lower than Iraq and Libya.

The Saudi government has openly prosecuted bloggers and dissidents, maintains strict control over internet content, and in 2012 was listed by the CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists) as number 8 in the 10 Most Censored Countries. And just this week, KSA passed a law to combat cybercrime, which includes a broadly worded provision to outlaw `the dissemination of ideas that could affect public order or morality.’

All of which makes the appearance of several articles in the Arabic press (h/t Sharon Sanders of FluTrackers) over the past day or two – openly questioning the Ministry of Health’s statements on MERS – a bit surprising.

While I can’t vouch for the accuracy of any of these reports - given the stiff penalties Saudi Arabia has imposed in the past on `dissident’ voices – the mere fact that they are being published at all is remarkable.

On the epidemic blog, Andrew Rambaut has updated MERS-CoV spatial, temporal and epidemiological information. This is as detailed and documented a list of MERS cases as I've seen anywhere, and it's very current. Highly recommended.