Surveillance and Testing for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, Saudi Arabia, March 2016-March 2019

Abdullah Alzahrani; Stephanie A Kujawski; Glen R Abedi; Safaa Tunkar; Holly M Biggs; Nada Alghawi; Hani Jokhdar; Abdullah M Assiri; John T Watson

doi:10.3201/eid2607.200437

Surveillance and Testing for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, Saudi Arabia, March 2016-March 2019

Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 Jul;26(7):1571-1574. doi: 10.3201/eid2607.200437.

Authors

Abdullah Alzahrani, Stephanie A Kujawski, Glen R Abedi, Safaa Tunkar, Holly M Biggs, Nada Alghawi, Hani Jokhdar, Abdullah M Assiri, John T Watson

Abstract

During March 2016-March 2019, a total of 200,936 suspected cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection were identified in Saudi Arabia; infections were confirmed in 698 cases (0.3% [0.7/100,000 population per year]). Continued surveillance is necessary for early case detection and timely infection control response.

Keywords: MERS-CoV; Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus; Saudi Arabia; coronavirus; respiratory infections; surveillance; testing; viruses; zoonoses.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Child
Child, Preschool
Contact Tracing
Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
Disease Outbreaks
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Middle Aged
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus
Population Surveillance / methods*
Saudi Arabia / epidemiology
Young Adult