We all have a lot to fear. If MERS starts spreading easily we are in big trouble. We all need to watch this one.

It sort of upsets me that the Saudi public is spooked.

This is really interesting!  Arabs seem to like to consume raw camel's milk, which is one avenue for transmission.  

Comment removed by Astrologic's mother.

Rishat - give it up, dude. And Astrologic - don't encourage him please. Both of your posts have been hidden.

Mers virus: Saudis warned to wear masks near camels

Saudi Arabia has urged its citizens to wear masks and gloves when dealing with camels so as to avoid spreading the deadly Mers virus.

The agriculture ministry advised people not to come into contact with camels unless necessary and to wash their hands if they did.

Saudia Arabia is the country by far most affected by Mers, with 133 deaths since the virus was detected in 2012.

Nearly 500 people in the kingdom have been infected.

Mers - Middle East respiratory syndrome - has also spread to other countries in the Middle East.

The disease is a coronavirus, a large family of viruses that also includes the common cold and Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome). It causes fever, pneumonia and kidney failure.

"It is advisable to wear protective gloves, especially when dealing with births or sick or dead (camels)," the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

It suggested boiling camel milk and only eating cooked camel meat.

The ministry's statement comes as research by health experts has focused on the role of the camel as a carrier of the virus.

The camel is a central part of traditional Saudi life and the authorities have only recently linked the outbreak to the animals.

But some farmers have mocked the official warnings, with one posting a video of himself hugging and kissing his camels, asking one to sneeze into his face.

Saudi farmers defy warnings on camels amid Mers fear


Health authorities have called for caution in dealing with camel meat, milk
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-farmers-defy-warnings-on-camels-amid-mers-fear-1.1330868


Published: 12:42 May 11, 2014



Manama: The formidable challenges faced by Saudi Arabia’s health authorities to raise awareness of the dangers of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) Coronavirus have become obvious in pictures and videos posted online by camel farmers. Scroll down to watch.


By Saturday night, Saudi Arabia had said that the death toll from the virus in the kingdom had touched 139 and the number of infections stood at 480.


Although some studies have concluded that the virus was “extraordinarily common” in camels and the Saudi acting health minister urged people to keep away from raw camel meat and milk and to avoid sick camels, owners have refused to pay attention.


Some of them are now openly challenging the claim that camels were a likely source of the deadly infection.


A Saudi farmer last week posted a clip of himself hugging and kissing camels while pouring scorn on the warnings to be cautious with the animals.


“Do sneeze in my face,” he said as he hugged one camel, putting his face against its head. “They claim camels carry the coronavirus,” he said, sarcastically.


     

Another Saudi national posted a picture showing him kissing a she-camel on the mouth to prove that the animals, very popular in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Gulf, could not be the source of infection.


Abdul Juraiwi Al Qahani, a well-known farmer, said that he was challenging the health ministry “to produce a single evidence that camels were the source of the coronavirus” and asked its officials to review their data and conclusions, local news site Al Weam reported on Sunday.


Other farmers also rejected the ministry’s caution warnings, arguing that they had lived for decades with camels and had never been infected by them.


The announcement of the latest fatalities in Saudi Arabia came the day after the WHO said it would hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the spread of the virus.


The UN health agency’s emergency committee has already met four times to discuss the mysterious coronavirus since it surfaced in 2012.


“The increase in the number of cases in different countries raises a number of questions,” spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva on Friday.
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Comment removed by Astrologic's mother.

Comment removed by Astrologic's mother.
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Technophobe wrote this:

A huge percentage of camels tested, however, tested positive for MERS.  That is not an opinion, however, it is a scientific fact.

Astrologic: I am aware that certain camels and bats, have tested positive for antibodies for what is now being called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. This does mean that this is where the disease came from, or that this is the source for the human illness. When quackish experts are confronted with something they cannot comprehend, they find a someone or something to pin for their own insecurities and lack of knowledge.

BOB C. wrote: Astrologic wrote: Speaking of camels; I think that the below folk tale, would make more sense, if it read something like this: "It will be easier for a person, place or thing, that is camouflaged, and blends in with the people, places and things; to gain entrance though the eyes of the watchers, at the check points." Hence: Camo through the waiting eye of the needle/checkpoint. There is an old folk tale, that reads something like this. "It is easier for a camel to hide itself, through the eye of a needle, then it would be for an intellectually enriched man, to get through the gates of inhuman heaven, and attempt to be properly heard." Folk tale, are you kidding me!!  Matthew 19:25   Mark 10:25  .   ! Corinthians 1:17-18, go read it.

Could someone explain PLEASE, how this breaking news or pertains to emerging viruses or pandemic planning???
This site is becoming so cluttered up with this kind of garbage. And more cluttered it gets the less relevant it is.

arirish wrote: CRS, DrPH said, "If MERS spreads to conflict areas (Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan etc.)" From what I've read about conditions in these areas and in the refugee camps, with the number of malnourished, large numbers with preexisting conditions, not to mention Polio, Hepatitis, measles, dysentery and many other diseases spreading the last thing they need in MERS but I would not be shocked to find out it's already there.

Comment removed by Astrologic's mother.

Albert
Can you look after this???
At best it belongs in General Discussion and my personal feeling is it doesn't even belong there.

rickster58 wrote: Hi Guest, Agreed this should be in general discussion, but you need to chill on criticizing other posters beliefs or comments.

Other posters should find a forum that is relevant to their particular 'beliefs or comments'.

This forum is for news and comments related to emergent illness and pandemic preparedness.

why do people answer or quote the.......

If a thread doesn't belong in the news section we can legitimately move it to general discussion, but we can't do that to comments within a thread. As a partial solution, may I suggest that people stop requoting multiple quotes? If you want to take issue with a particular point, first take a breath and ask yourself if it's going to detract from the thread before you begin to type. If you still want to reply, choose the relevant text to quote - you can edit it just like you can your own content so we don't have huge black boxes of quotes to wade through.
Guest - welcome to AFT, and try to understand that this isn't by any means a new development. Trying to keep people on track without stifling debate or deleting posts we don't like has been an ongoing battle since the site started. Feel free to join - you're obviously very focused on the problems of emerging pathogens, and I think having you as a contributing member would be an asset. And rickster is right - please don't be put off by the OT stuff and bickering and lose track of why we're all here. If you pick and choose what you read and leave the rest alone, AFT is an invaluable tool when it comes to prepping for the worst - and more importantly, seeing it coming before everyone else does