Pregnant woman in UAE with MERS gives birth by emergency C-section; baby well, mother died next day.

Pregnant woman in UAE with MERS gives birth by emergency C-section; baby well, mother died next day.HT: Croft.

Via The Montreal Gazette, a report by Helen Branswell of The Canadian Press: Pregnant woman with MERS gives birth by emergency C-section; baby well. Excerpt:

A man, his pregnant wife and their eight-year-old son have tested positive for MERS in the United Arab Emirates, the World Health Organization announced Monday. 

The woman, who was eight months pregnant when she contracted the virus, gave birth by emergency C-section to a healthy baby boy. But later Monday, the National, an English-language newspaper in Abu Dhabi, reported that the woman had succumbed to her illness. 

This is the first known case of a pregnant woman contracting MERS. 

The man remains in critical condition in hospital. The older son had a milder illness; he was only spotted as a MERS patient when health officials screened the relatives of the couple for additional cases. The boy is reportedly being kept in isolation. 

The latest cases are members of a large extended family from Jordan who were residents of the UAE. News reports from Abu Dhabi said the couple had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia and noted UAE health officials have speculated they may have been infected there. 

But the WHO said it was not informed of any recent travel by the couple. As well, it said the family had no recent contact with animals. 

The Geneva-based global health agency also announced Monday that the experts who advise it on MERS, the so-called emergency committee, will meet again this Wednesday. 

Dr. Theresa Tam of the Public Health Agency of Canada is a member of the emergency committee. Tam is the agency's director general of the centre for emergency preparedness and response.