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Mysterious Virus Emerges in the Middle East
ATLANTA—Global health authorities are hunting for cases of a mysterious respiratory illness that killed at least one person in Saudi Arabia and left another who traveled there in intensive care in a London hospital.
Health officials said the source of the virus infecting both is unknown, though they have identified it as a coronavirus, part of a large family of viruses that in most cases cause common colds, but also have caused SARS.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome erupted in China in late 2002 and spread to a number of countries, infecting more than 8,000 people and killing about 775 before it disappeared in mid 2003.
The World Health Organization said the new virus has been identified in a 49-year-old man from Qatar who traveled to Saudi Arabia before falling ill Sept. 3. He is being treated for acute respiratory syndrome and kidney failure.
The virus that infected him bears a 99.5% similarity to one isolated from the lung tissue of a 60-year-old man from Saudi Arabia who died this summer after suffering respiratory and kidney failure, the WHO said.
Saudi officials identified a third death, but didn’t give further details. The WHO said it was a suspect case that can’t be confirmed postmortem.
However, the U.K.’s Health Protection Agency said it was investigating the case of a person from the Middle East who died in the U.K.
“There is no evidence at present to suggest that it is caused by the same virus or linked to the other two cases,” the HPA said, adding that it was “aware of a small number of other cases of serious respiratory illness in the Middle East in the past three months.”
The cases come a month ahead of the Hajj pilgrimage, which draws millions of Muslim pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. The Hajj pilgrimage runs this year from roughly Oct. 24 to Oct. 29.
66chevelle
September 25th, 2012
Jews. No more comments necessary, thankyew.
Toaster
September 25th, 2012
Isn’t that mysterious virus in the middle east called Islam?
hanoverfist
September 25th, 2012
“Captain Trips”
Tim
September 25th, 2012
“… killing about 775 …”
Just not virulent enough …
next?
September 25th, 2012
QUARANTINE BEFORE they return to “their” country
Anonymous
September 25th, 2012
Didn’t China also give us the stink bug?
Stranded in Sonoma
September 25th, 2012
I suggest you all read Tom Clancy’s book Executive Orders. In it, muzloids in the United Islamic Republic (Iran/Iraq) find a way to make the ebola virus communicable by way of being airborne.
Life imitating art?
Pickled Liver
September 25th, 2012
Is it to early to start calling it “The Great White Hope” ?
Sorry – That’s racists!
Billy Fuster
September 25th, 2012
Well, it can’t be cause by having sex with goats because they’d all be dead.
Meshuggahboy
September 25th, 2012
Any way we can get it to spread faster and still keep it contained over there?
persecutor
September 25th, 2012
God’s way of payback for romancing the goats!
ouch
September 25th, 2012
The scary thing is that they are going to do the haj to mecca soon (next month?). If there is a Sars type disease in ME they will be bringing it to the world after they come back after the trip.
Haj=one big ass sniffing festival
bOOBIE THE rOCKET dOG
September 25th, 2012
THE LORD WORKS IN SOMETIMES NOT-SO-MYSTERIOUS WAYS.
Boobie the Rocket Dog
September 25th, 2012
Amen.
John
September 25th, 2012
The main vector is goat-buggery. We’re safe here.
Claudia
September 25th, 2012
Awww, poor goats.
Corona
September 25th, 2012
Oh great.
bitterclinger
September 25th, 2012
Boobie — My thoughts exactly. There are plenty of instances of certain groups of peeps being struck dead in The Bible.
Xavier
September 25th, 2012
I know at least a couple people here who are in the medical field, and others of you might be interested in this too. The Great Influenza, by John Barry, is written for the layman but you’ll come away with an understanding of medical science dating back to the Civil War, exposure to state of the art science on how viruses develop and transmit, and an appreciation for the almost unbelievable deadliness of the 1918 flu epidemic. There’s also a good bit about politics: you’ll learn about the repressive and illegal methods Wilson used to control the population during wartime, and how politics and the flu affected each other over the run of the disease.
Highly recommended. My copy is out on loan so I can’t give a page count, but I’d estimate it at about 2 1/2″ thick. This is NOT one of those ‘scare’ books that forsake science to further the plot. It’s more of a history book with a scientific theme.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Influenza-Deadliest-History/dp/0670894737
muddjuice (Absolutist)
September 26th, 2012
“…who died this summer after suffering respiratory and kidney failure, the WHO said.”
Why are the WHO making comments about this? Shouldn’t they be making music?
TED JUSANT
September 26th, 2012
I have read this report 2-3 times and there is something wrong in what it says, allowe me to alaborate on this,
ATLANTA—Global health authorities are hunting for cases of a mysterious respiratory illness that killed at least one person in Saudi Arabia and left another who traveled there in intensive care in a London hospital.
1 DEAD / 1 ILL,
The ill patient is in london
The World Health Organization said the new virus has been identified in a 49-year-old man from Qatar who traveled to Saudi Arabia before falling ill Sept. 3. He is being treated for acute respiratory syndrome and kidney failur
The virus that infected him bears a 99.5% similarity to one isolated from the lung tissue of a 60-year-old man from Saudi Arabia who died this summer after suffering respiratory and kidney failure,
NOW READ THIS !
“There is no evidence at present to suggest that it is caused by the same virus or linked to the other two cases,” the HPA said, adding that it was “aware of a small number of other cases of serious respiratory illness in the Middle East in the past three months.”
Is this the same person in London,
The World Health Organization said the new virus has been identified in a 49-year-old man from Qatar who traveled to Saudi Arabia before falling ill Sept. 3. He is being treated for acute respiratory syndrome and kidney failure.
Saudi officials identified a third death, but didn’t give further details. The WHO said it was a suspect case that can’t be confirmed postmortem.
3 DEATHS ?,
However, the U.K.’s Health Protection Agency said it was investigating the case of a person from the Middle East who died in the U.K.
Is this the same person in London !
I may be thick but some thing does’nt add up.