Avoid camels to escape MERS, warns Saudi health minister

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article...e-mers-warns-saudi-minister.html#.U1_uFi9pehc

Avoid camels to escape MERS, warns Saudi minister
19:03 29 April 2014 by Debora MacKenzie


Saudi Arabia's health minister today warned Saudis on national television to avoid close contact with camels, and not to consume raw camel meat or camel milk, after a report that dromedaries are the "plausible" source of the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus. The warning came as a team from the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived in the kingdom to investigate an accelerating outbreak...

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Avoid camels to escape MERS, warns Saudi health minister

machine translation


Make recommendations on the Hajj and Umrah through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Health Minister-designate warns of dealing with beauty without masks

M. Adel Fakih, Minister of Health-designate during a press conference about the developments, "Corona." Photograph: Saad Al Anzi - "economic"

Mohammed Aoun from Riyadh

Recommended Adel Al-Faqih, the Minister of Health in charge, caution in dealing with the beauty diseased, in particular, said during a press conference held yesterday at the Ministry of Health, Riyadh, must be caught from the camel put gags and taking precautions full, stressing that the ministry will provide bulletins detailed procedures precautions in dealing with beauty, and beauty is emphasized that one of the animals incubator for the virus, pointing to further research to see if there were other animals carry the virus, and whether mice carry the virus.

The Minister of Health in charge of that ministry will not allow non-professionals to market illusions and exploiting people's fear over the marketing of products and make profits, including on non-scientific grounds, he said, must not draw on citizen information from social media, and trust that the ministry will spare no effort or a way to eliminate the virus through the treatment of cases and investigate the causes of the spread of the virus and take preventive measures and the use of local and international experts.

Among Engineer Fakih, the ministry concluded a scientific conference yesterday gathering of international experts in the field of viral diseases of the World Health Organization and Health Authority and British professors from the universities of European and American, and will turn outputs the conference to actions and decisions implemented with other ministries related, pointing to the existence of coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture to take detailed procedures.

http://www.aleqt.com/2014/04/30/article_845208.html


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Also please see:


Saudi Arabia - Veterinarians performing 40 surgeries a month on camels in a Eastern province hospital - remind people to bury any camel that dies - August 2013

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Avoid camels to escape MERS, warns Saudi health minister

Minister of Health is clarifying some of his remarks:

@adelmfakeih


machine translation

Adel Muhammad Faqih @ adelmfakeih 29m
The experts recommended to take caution when dealing with meat " raw " in general , and not to touch it without gloves

*Adel Muhammad Faqih @ adelmfakeih 29m
The experts recommended to take precautions when mixing camel showing signs of infection Karashh , runny nose and respiratory symptoms

*Adel Muhammad Faqih @ adelmfakeih 30m
Did not warn doctors and experts from eating camel meat cooked or boiled drinking camel milk

*Adel Muhammad Faqih @ adelmfakeih 30m
Doctors warn of eating meat or " liver " is cooked camel and drinking milk is boiled and the prevention of infectious diseases

*Adel Muhammad Faqih @ adelmfakeih 31m
What had warned him at the press conference about the eating uncooked meat and milk is boiled camel is not my personal opinion, but it is the consensus of experts and specialists

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Avoid camels to escape MERS, warns Saudi health minister

Kiss of death: Defiant farmers still smooching CAMELS despite deadly virus warnings

May 14, 2014 15:50
By Simon Keegan
...
Camel smooching is most common in Saudi Arabia where health authorities have urged people that it leads to the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus - also known as MERS-CoV.
...
Authorities say that not only should people avoid puckering up with camels, they should also wear gloves, stay away from raw camel meat and camel milk, and not to go near sick animals.

<IFRAME height=360 src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZbyD__fCtOE" frameBorder=0 width=640 allowfullscreen></IFRAME>

But locals are not happy with the ban and one man has even taunted the health minister by encouraging his camel to sneeze on him.

...
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/kiss-death-defiant-farmers-still-3538422#ixzz31hgmJYy3

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Avoid camels to escape MERS, warns Saudi health minister

The scary reason Saudi farmers are kissing camels

By Adam Taylor

May 16 at 5:00 am</TIME>
...
It seems a strange protest, but there's something behind it. Earlier this week, the Saudi government began a campaign to stop people from eating raw camel meat and liver or drinking unpasteurized camel milk. Experts argue that Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS' full name) or traces of it have been found in a large proportion of the camels tested in Saudi Arabia, and antibodies from the virus have even been found in camel populations in Spain's Canary Islands, thousands of miles away. Camels may not be the main source of MERS (many experts point the finger at bats), but they certainly seem like one big possibility.

For some in Saudi Arabia, avoiding camels is not such an easy task. One study from 2008 found that there were almost 900,000 camels in Saudi Arabia alone, with almost 15 million across other Arab states. The animals are a source of income for a large number of people, and popular too.

"Camels in the kingdom are like dairy cows, beef cows, racehorses, pulling horses, beloved Labradors, and living daily reminders of holy scripture, all in one," Cynthia Gorney wrote for the National Geographic this week, noting that camels are featured honorably in the Koran.

Partly due to this fondness for camels, and partly due to a perceived lack of transparency from the Saudi government about MERS, a lot of people aren't totally convinced by the warnings about camels. Reuters reported from a Saudi camel market on Sunday and noted that only one person was wearing a mask as recommended. Some farmers are pointing out they have worked with camels for decades with no ill health.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-farmers-are-kissing-camels/?tid=pm_world_pop