Why MERS Could Become a Global Threat
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A year after it was first reported, researchers still know little about Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the virus responsible for at least 60 deaths in 138 cases–mostly in Saudi Arabia.
MERS is a novel coronavirus (nCoV) first reported on 24 September 2012. MERS-CoV is the sixth new type of coronavirus like SARS. Most infections with human coronaviruses are mild and associated with common colds.
The fear is that the influx of some 2 million Muslim pilgrims for the hajj this month (an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca and the largest gathering of Muslim people in the world every year) could provide optimal conditions for transforming a regional outbreak into a global one:
Inconclusive Research
Inadequate Surveillance
Opaque Information Sharing
Budget Cuts Raise Risks
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