Abu Dhabi Expat Dies Of MERS

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that a man passed away in Abu Dhabi after contracting the MERS coronavirus.

The 38-year-old man began to show symptoms of the virus on December 29 and was admitted to the hospital for further treatment.

He was shifted to the intensive care unit after developing complications and passed away on February 6, 2015.

The victim had no long term medical conditions or exposure to other risk factors before symptoms set in, the global health watchdog said.

The case is the first in the UAE in last six months. The last case of MERS in the UAE was reported to WHO on July 14, 2014, the global health body said.

Abu Dhabi expat’s death comes as a Filipino nurse, who returned from Saudi Arabia, was found to have contracted MERS.

MERS virus, which first emerged in 2012, has affected more than 900 people world over and killed around 359 people.

The infection was rampant in Saudi Arabia, which saw a steep surge in MERS infections in April last year which subsequently tapered off towards the end of the year.

First reported in Saudi Arabia, about 30 per cent of people confirmed to have caught the viral respiratory illness MERS-CoV have died.

Nine countries in the Middle East have had confirmed cases while 13 other states, now including the Philippines, have had travel-associated cases, or cases that they have diagnosed but which originated overseas.