China media claims: South Korea’s first patient with MERS virus ” super-spreader “

[tetano]

South Korea’s first patient or MERS virus ” super-spreader “

CCTV News: [South Korea South Korea’s first patient ‘s first super- contagious respiratory syndrome in the Middle East is a 68- year-old man visited in mid-April this year, Bahrain , Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates , breathing after May 4 arrived in South Korea
Symptoms of the disease , 20 were diagnosed as Korea ‘s first Middle East respiratory syndrome. Currently confirmed infection have been in contact with him . Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention believes that he may be a virus of ” super-spreaders .”

http://news.163.com/15/0530/16/AQSK8GFT0001121M.html

[sharon sanders]

I am not sure if this is true. Some of the patients also had contacts with sick close relatives who had become ill. There may be secondary transmission in this cluster.

China's media is controlled by the central government. It is in their interest to claim that the Korea index case is a "super spreader" because then they can claim that there is no spread from the Korean traveler who is currently hospitalized in Guangdong province.

Please see FluTrackers South Korea Coronavirus MERS Case List including imported and exported cases link

[alert]

As far as I can tell, while there may have been some secondary exposures, every case so far has had contact with either the index case, or was in the hospital at the time of that case. There are no clear third-generation cases yet (who had contact only with a secondary case and not the index case). So it does appear that the index case may have infected 12 other people.

Also, curiously odd, is the fact that all the cases appear to still be alive.

[Shannon Bennett]

Speaks well for Korean health care that all are still alive.

[Pathfinder]

Translation Google

MERS mutant infected contacted for 5 minutes

At 04:10 on May 31, 2015 Caizhi Ren / roundup
...
South Korea, "Chosun Ilbo" that the epidemic is now South Korea's MERS, similar occurred in Hong Kong in 2003 and SARS. Then staying in a hotel in Hong Kong's "super-spreaders" allows 16 people on the same floor of infected SARS, and thus spread to many countries. MERS in South Korea infectious why so strong? According to South Korea, "Central Daily" reported infections professor of internal medicine at Seoul National University Hospital Medical BORAMAE Fangzhi Huan said that the virus itself is constantly changing, so the possibility of genetic variation can not be ruled out. In other words, it may be after mutate into a "stronger virus."

MERS in the middle of death was 40% of new infections in the past a high mortality rate of avian influenza (AI), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) four times. The South Korea although there have been 13 people infected, but the report has not yet appeared deaths.
...
Highly contagious reduce mortality

In general, the rate of infectious and lethal virus is inversely proportional. Although the new Avian influenza is highly infectious, but the death rate was only 0.03%. While in the Middle East MERS contagious low death rate, but in South Korea are showing low death rate, high contagious characteristics. Infection Medicine, Seoul National University professor Wu stew believe that this happens because the virus is mainly transmitted to the doctors of patients with weak immunity, so infectious is relatively high. As infection required contact time with patients early in the disease management than the headquarters of South Korea described much shorter, which also proves that MERS power is growing.

2 m 1 hour anti-infection breaking work

Disease Control Division had 21 noted that patients within 2 meters contacted more than 1 hour and is likely to be infected, but a plurality of contact time was less than this case infection occurred. As the first five cases of infected persons is a doctor (50 years old), he was infected patients conducted only five minutes treatment. With the first patient ward adjacent four patients have been infected.

Part disease management minister Liang Bingguo said the first six patients in the 15 days before admission, had met with the first patient examination room. Visible "2 meters, one hour" this infection is not very convincing standard.

http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20150531000259-260102

[alert]

What is going on here is not consistent with what we know about the MERS virus in other countries. I can think of several explanations:

1. This isn't the same virus. This is a similar, but different virus, behaving differently. Perhaps a slight mutation of the original virus.

2. A severe error was made (perhaps involving the mechanical ventilation of a MERS patient) that resulted in a single mass airborne exposure in a hospital ward. If so, we should see few, if any, tertiary cases.

3. Korea's labs are really good, detecting milder cases that would be missed in other countries. Arguing against that fact, is that the US CDC did not detect any secondary cases following the importations into the US.

4. The labs are really bad, and producing false positives. Perhaps some of these cases might be infected with other human coronaviruses and the tests are cross-reactive?

We shall see. It seems clear that something very unusual is going on here.

[Pathfinder]

Translation Google

Korean concern: do not rule out possible virus mutation MERS

2015-05-31 10:00:38 Source: Xinmin

Xinmin hearing, according to South Korean health authorities, 30 news in South Korea to accept quarantine suspected patients in the Middle East respiratory syndrome M a (49) day was diagnosed respiratory syndrome virus infection in the Middle East, the Middle East and South Korea so far to 13 patients diagnosed with respiratory syndrome people.

M is Korea's first 12 cases of a Middle East respiratory syndrome husband. According to health authorities introduced, M is also the first case of a patient A certain (68 years old) infection. This month 15-17, M a hospital to visit his wife went to B, on the 21st of fever and other symptoms appear, has been hospitalized in hospital B, has been sent to the Middle East, the Korean government designated hospitals for isolation respiratory syndrome.

Health authorities believe that new patients were first patient A certain infections. A certain symptoms on the 11th, the 20th was diagnosed, during severe pneumonia and other respiratory symptoms, the virus is the most contagious during the period. Analysis of data from the health authorities, the patients were infected in the second 15-17 and A have had contact with a 1-4 hours.

Does not rule out possible virus mutation

South Korea this month on the 20th found the first case of imported Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) after suspected cases of epidemic Administration explains that "MERS infectivity is very low," and expressed optimism that the medical team and family members in close contact with the patient 64 who has been quarantined at home, so it will not infect a wide range. In other words, patients infected camel (a contagious person) and then transmitted to humans (secondary infection) in the case of less than one person. However, the Korean patients has increased to 13 people yesterday, so people were fears that, is not it time to expand or MERS virus has undergone genetic variation.

Korea first patient (68 years old) after Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other four countries, the possibility of contact with the camel farms and other relatively large. The infected person has been in close contact with his wife, patients and their families in the same ward, the medical team, 7 people were infected. The remaining four people and the first patient has been living at the hospital level. In other words, there are more than 10 people by a person to infected. Seoul National University Hospital Medical BORAMAE infection medicine Fang Zhihuan (sound) professor said: "Now no one can predict in an emergency situation, the first patients could be considered 'super-spreaders', which in other countries is very rare . "

So contagious so strong reasons for that? Fang Zhihuan pointed out: "MERS coronavirus itself is constantly changing, so is the possibility of virus mutation can not be excluded." In other words, it may be later mutate into a "more powerful virus." South Korean Minister Liang Bingguo Disease Control Division, said: "To compare the two genetic sequence of the virus, it takes a very long time, so only a portion of comparison found that is consistent." But experts point out that it is difficult to judge from only part Both viruses are the same. Seoul National University professor of infectious medicine stew Wu said: "The need to confirm the key part of the genetic sequence, only part of the judgment is not possible."

Doctor Diagnoses five minutes were infected

MERS in the middle of death was 40% higher rate of fatal avian influenza (AI), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) four times in the past of new infections.

Professor Wu Mingdun said: "South Korea this happens, because the virus is mainly transmitted to the medical patients with weak immunity, so infectious is relatively high."

http://www.kaixian.tv/gd/2015/0531/22852.html

[Pathfinder]

Translation Google

2015/05/31 2:23 p.m. KST

(LEAD) MERS-CoV: those at high risk will be placed in isolation

SEOUL, May 31 (Yonhap) -
...
"We are also working with other countries to determine the types of variation of the virus," noted the Minister.
...

http://french.yonhapnews.co.kr/natio...000700884.HTML

[Pathfinder]

Viral Superspreader? How One Man Triggered A Deadly MERS Outbreak

JUNE 04, 2015 7:03 PM ET
...
One scary idea is that the virus has changed or mutated so it's now more contagious.

"It's always possible that a virus can change. That's a general rule," says Christian Drosten, a virologist at the University of Bonn in Germany. "But such viruses usually need not just one but several of these changes [to become more contagious]. And the probability for these to happen together is really very, very low."

"If we look at data that we have [from Saudi Arabia] that are not published yet, what we can say is there are some patients that have extraordinarily high viral loads," Drostan says.

And when these so-called superspreaders cough, he says, they can infect many people, sometimes a dozen or more.

"Maybe the index case in Korea was one of those superspreaders," Drosten says.
...

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/06/04/412046893/viral-superspreader-how-one-man-triggered-a-deadly-mers-outbreak

[Shannon Bennett]

The article in post 9 suggests the virus may die out in a week. Given that we already have 41 cases something has changed. We can always hope it will die soon but, even if it does somehow die there will be more cases.

[Pathfinder]

Half of confirmed MERS patients recover

Published : 2015-06-28 16:33
Updated : 2015-06-28 18:02

...authorities said it is possible that more cases may be identified in the future, especially from the Hallym University Medical Center in Seoul...

Concerns have been rising about the particular 173rd case, the late patient, as she had developed pneumonia on top of MERS while staying at the hospital.

Pneumonia, a disease that can seriously deteriorate a MERS patient?s condition, had also afflicted the nation?s five other ?super-spreaders? -- those who spread the virus to more than two individuals.

?Those five patients are the index, sixth, 14th, 15th and 16th patients,? said Dr. Lee Jae-gab from Hallym University Medical Center, who last week studied 98 MERS cases occurring in Korea.

Dr. Lee also discovered that the five super-spreaders were diagnosed with MERS relatively late. While they were diagnosed an average of 8.2 days after they experienced their first symptoms, the non-spreaders were diagnosed an average of 4.6 days after developing MERS symptoms.
...

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150628000244