Panel of international experts to assess threat posed by MERS at conference July 17

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/panel-of-international-experts-to-assess-threat-posed-by-mers-1.1370330

Panel of international experts to assess threat posed by MERS
Helen Branswell, The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, July 16, 2013 9:50PM EDT
Last Updated Tuesday, July 16, 2013 9:51PM EDT

TORONTO -- Would you choose the word "emergency" to describe a disease that has sickened 82 people in eight countries over the last 16 months? Would your thinking change if you knew it had killed 45 of those people? What about if you knew the virus that caused the disease is related to the one that caused SARS?

Despite the high death rate and SARS connection, it's hard to imagine many lay people would currently see the slow-but-steady MERS coronavirus outbreak as an emergency. And yet a panel of international experts -- known as the Emergency Committee -- is being asked whether they think the disease event meets that definition when they gather by teleconference Wednesday to assess the threat posed by the Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome virus.

The experts, pulled together by the World Health Organization under powers given it by the International Health Regulations (the IHR), are expected to advise WHO Director General Dr. Margaret Chan on Wednesday whether she should declare MERS a "public health emergency of international concern" or PHEIC, in the jargon of the WHO. Chan doesn't have to take the advice, but it's hard to see why she would reject the guidance after asking for it...

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Panel of international experts to assess threat posed by MERS

Re: Panel of international experts to assess threat posed by MERS

via email to media

The following statement has been issued by WHO after the conclusion of the second meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on MERS-CoV:

Summary: Second Meeting of the IHR Emergency Committee concerning Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV)

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WHO Statement
17 July 2013
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The second meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the Director-General under the International Health Regulations (2005) [IHR (2005)] was held by teleconference on Wednesday, 17 July 2013, from 12:00 to 16:04 Geneva time (CET).

In addition to Members of the Emergency Committee, an expert advisor to the Committee^[1] participated in the meeting. During the informational session of the meeting, several affected States Parties were also on the teleconference. The States Parties on the teleconference were: France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom.

The Committee reviewed and deliberated on information on a range of aspects of MERS-CoV, which was prepared or coordinated by the Secretariat and States in response to questions presented by Members during the first meeting.

It is the unanimous decision of the Committee that, with the information now available, and using a risk-assessment approach, the conditions for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern have not at present been met.

While not considering the events currently to constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern Members of the Committee did offer technical advice for consideration by WHO and Member States on a broad range of issues, including the following:

• Improvements in surveillance, lab capacity, contact tracing and serological investigation
• Infection prevention and control and clinical management
• Travel-related guidance
• Risk communications
• Research studies (epidemiological, clinical and animal)
• Improved data collection and the need to ensure full and timely reporting of all confirmed and probable cases of MERS-CoV to WHO in accordance with the IHR (2005).

The WHO Secretariat will provide regular updates to the Members and will reconvene the Committee, in September, on a date to be determined. However, serious new developments may require an urgent re-convening of the Committee before then.

Based on these views and the currently available information, the Director-General accepted the Committee’s assessment that the current MERS-CoV situation is serious and of great concern, but does not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern at this time.

The Director-General expressed her gratitude to the Committee on its wide range of advice on health actions for countries to implement, and advice on follow-up work by WHO.