Saudi Arabia reports 1 new MERS case and 1 death
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported one new MERS-CoV case in the southeastern city of Jazan and also announced the death of a previously reported patient.
The MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) case in Jazan involves a 55-year-old Saudi man who is hospitalized in stable condition. He is not a healthcare worker, and his history of camel exposure is currently unknown, the MOH said. His infection is listed as "primary," meaning he did not contract the disease from another person.
The agency also reported the death of a 78-year-old Saudi woman in Al-Kharj. She was not a healthcare worker and had an underlying medical condition, the MOH said.
Today's update brings the MERS total in Saudi Arabia since 2012 to 1,361 cases, including 581 deaths. Sixteen cases remain active.
Mar 29 MOH update
Ehrlichia species likely underreported as cause of tick-borne disease
The tick-borne bacterium Ehrlichia ewingii is likely missed by diagnostic testing and has a higher prevalence and wider geographic range in the United States than previously thought, according to a study yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
A team of researchers evaluated samples collected from 4,177 patients with tick-borne disease between May 2013 and November 2014. Ten (9.2%) of 109 people with ehrlichiosis caused by an unidentified species were found to be infected with E ewingii.
Case-patients with E ewingii were from Missouri (4 cases), Indiana (3), Arkansas (1), New Jersey (1), and New York (1). All ten positive samples were collected between June and September. Though clinical disease caused by E ewingii has not been characterized, 5 patients with available records had signs or symptoms associated with tick-borne illness, including fever, thrombocytopenia, and joint pain. All infections resolved with doxycycline treatment.
The study marks the first time that E ewingii has been identified in New Jersey and Indiana. Both states are in the range of the bacterium's vector, Amblyomma americanum (the lone star tick), which is prevalent in the eastern and southeastern US.
During the study period, only 2% (31) of 1,518 reported ehrlichiosis cases in the United States had E ewingii as the cause, suggesting that infections due to the species often go undiagnosed because of successful antibiotic treatment, limited availability of adequate tests, and the assumption that ehrlichiosis cases are caused by the more common E chaffeensis, the authors said.
Mar 28 Emerg Infect Dis study
