First case of MERS in Bangladesh

Nurul Islam Hasib,  bdnews24.com

Published: 2014-06-15 13:29:30.0 BdST Updated: 2014-06-15 15:53:16.0 BdST

Bangladesh has confirmed the first case of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS) after a 53-year-old man returning from the US via Abu Dhabi was found afflicted with it.

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“We urge everyone to report to the hospital if they fall sick after returning from abroad,” IEDCR director says.

Prof Mahmudur Rahman, director of the national disease control agency, IEDCR, said the man was recuperating in a hospital.
“We have notified it to the WHO,” he told bdnews24.com on Sunday.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause a range of illnesses in humans, from the common cold to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Viruses in this family also cause a number of animal diseases.

The strain of coronavirus that causes MERS was first identified in 2012 in Saudi Arabia and has remained a global concern since then.

It has spread to 22 countries, including Bangladesh, from the Middle-East.

So far, WHO recorded 699 cases of MERS with a mortality rate of 30 percent.

WHO says its understanding of the virus and the disease it causes is continuing to evolve.

Prof Rahman, also a WHO expert on the board reviewing MERS, warned against unnecessary panic .

He said the virus has not spread further within the country after it has come here from the Middle East...http://bdnews24.com/health/2014/06/15/first-case-of-mers-in-bangladesh