Has MERS mutated forming a more deadly virus

While MERS may not have mutated, it definitely has recombined. This was verified by a group of Chinese scientists in response a case which arrived in China from South Korea having come from Jeddah. Two strains of the virus one from Riyadh and one from Jeddah are verified as having mingled to for form a third strain.
http://mbio.asm.org/content/6/5/e01280-15.abstract
IMPORTANCE The recent outbreak of MERS-CoV in South Korea has attracted global media attention due to the speed of spread and onward transmission. Here, we present the complete genome of the first imported MERS-CoV case in China and demonstrate genetic recombination events between group 3 and group 5 of clade B that may have implications for the transmissibility of MERS-CoV.

Outbreaks of the parent of the two strains that recombined

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/04/09/saudi-records-11-cases-mers-virus-in-jeddah/
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2015/08/thirteen-new-mers-cases-confirmed-riyadh-outbreak

comment: The concern here is that the appearance of a Super-spreader could result in increased infections and an epidemic.  Back when a super-spreader caused the outbreak in South Korea, there was the possibility the virus had mutated. Whether mutation or recombination - there still is a new form of the virus and this one could prove to be much more of a problem.



What is a Super-Spreader?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super-spreader

The term super-spreader refers to a host that infects disproportionally more secondary contacts than others also infected with the same virus or bacteria. Some cases of super-spreading conform to the 20/80 rule,^[1] where approximately 20% of infected individuals are responsible for 80% of transmissions.

Medclinician

comment: The last statement released by Saudi Arabia said the number of cases is decreasing and that was last week.