Outbreak fears as ‘camel flu’ with 35% fatality rate kills one and infects two more

THREE people in Saudi Arabia who have had no direct contact with camels have contracted ‘camel flu’, sparking concern among scientists.

It is not clear how the unnamed men caught the virus, which can kill up to 35 per cent of the people it infects.

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MERS kills up to a third of those it infects[/caption]

The pathogen, known as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), typically comes from camels, which is why it is often dubbed ‘camel flu’.

Most previous outbreaks are traced back to people working in close contact with the animals or their raw milk.

A handful of cases are known to have been passed on via human-to-human transmission.

However, this mode of transmission is very rare and usually only happens through sharing bodily liquids, such as breastfeeding.

Health experts have not yet been able to trace this current outbreak back to the animals, raising concerns that milder infections could be spreading undetected.

“There was no clear history of exposure to typical Mers-CoV risk factors,” the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a disease alert last week.

“Investigations, including determining the source of the infection, are ongoing.”

What happened?

The unnamed men were diagnosed with the disease in Saudi between April 10 and April 17 2024, the UN organisation said. 

All three stayed at a healthcare facility in the capital, Riyadh.

The first case, a 56-year-old teacher with underlying health conditions, went to hospital in early April after developing a cough, fever and body aches.

He later died from the disease.

The two other men – both 60 – who were staying in the same hotel and came into close proximity with the first man, also tested positive for the bug later in the month.

The two men who caught the disease late on had to be intubated, which is when a tube is put into the windpipe to help someone breathe.

The outbreak prompted mass contact tracing and testing in a bid to stop the disease from running rampant.

“Hospitals can either serve as a source of prevention or amplification of transmission,” said Dr Saskia Popescu, epidemiologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said.

“THIS is why we invest in infection prevention programs,” she wrote on X.

The WHO explained that the latest cases do not change the overall risk assessment.

However, it “expects that additional cases of Mers-CoV infection will be reported from the Middle East and/or other countries where Mers-CoV is circulating in dromedaries”.

PANDEMIC THREAT

MERS is a relatively new disease and was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012 when it jumped from camels to humans.

Since then, there have been 2,204 cases and 860 deaths, according to the WHO,

The majority of cases are reported in the Arabian Peninsula, but some have been discovered elsewhere – including one in the UK in 2018.

The bug is part of the coronavirus family that can cause diseases ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

MERS is more deadly but less transmissible than its sister bug, Covid-19.

The WHO has previously listed MES as one of several diseases—alongside the mysterious disease X, an as-yet unknown pathogen—that had the potential to spark an epidemic but for which there is no specific treatment or vaccine.

The NHS suggests that all travellers to the Middle East regularly wash their hands with soap and water, especially after visiting farms, barns, or market areas.

Travellers should also avoid contact with camels, raw camel milk or products and any food that may be contaminated with animal fluids.