MERS has symptoms that are similar to Covid-19. However, the transmission rate of MERS-CoV is not as high as SARS-CoV-2, even though its fatality rate is much higher than that of Covid-19.
By
ATIKA WALUJANI MOEDJIONO
·3 minutes read
The Saudi Arabian government announced on 27 Feb. 2020 a temporary ban for all foreign umrah (minor haj) pilgrims, including from Indonesia. The decision has surprised many, especially those who were planning to make the pilgrimage this year. However, it is understandable, considering that the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes Covid-19 is spreading rapidly around the globe.
Since the disease was identified in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, the WorldoMeters website has recorded 82,585 confirmed cases and 2,814 deaths to 27 Feb. 2020. Covid-19 has affected 50 countries on five continents.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) states that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted between humans especially through droplets expelled when a person with the virus coughs or sneezes. The incubation period is somewhere between two and 14 days. The symptoms of Covid-19 include fever, coughs, runny nose, difficulty breathing and pneumonia. No vaccine exists for Covid-19. The current treatment is limited to managing clinical symptoms, including with fever reducers, cough suppressants and supportive therapies such as oxygen, intravenous fluids and antivirals.
It has deemed that the mass rituals during umrah that can involve thousands of pilgrims at any given time, including tawaf (walking around the Kaaba), sai (walking briskly between the Safa and Marwah hills) and praying at the Masjidil Haram and Masjidil Nabawi grand mosques, could increase the potential spread of SARS-CoV-2. If people with the virus cough or sneeze without covering their mouths or noses properly during these rituals, they may spread the virus to those around them.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), droplets expelled when sneezing without covering the nose can reach up to 2 meters. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found that, when people sneeze, microdroplets are expelled that can be airborne for up to 10 minutes and reach a distance of 6-8 meters.
In 2012, Saudi Arabia and several other Middle Eastern countries were affected by an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which is caused by MERS-CoV, a type of coronavirus. New confirmed cases of MERS are still being reported today. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) recorded 2,519 confirmed MERS cases and 866 deaths between 2012 and 31 Jan. 2020.
MERS has symptoms that are similar to Covid-19. However, the transmission rate of MERS-CoV is not as high as SARS-CoV-2, even though its fatality rate is much higher than that of Covid-19. Cases of MERS have been reported today in just 27 countries, most in the Middle East and a few others in Europe, Asia and the US.
This is because it is difficult for MERS-CoV to spread between humans. Transmission generally occurs in health facilities or between close relatives without proper protection. Therefore, when the MERS outbreak first hit, visa and travel bans were not imposed for people from the affected countries.