• DOI:10.1056/NEJMoa1303729
• Corpus ID: 45633763

Family cluster of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infections.

@article{Memish2013FamilyCO,
  title={Family cluster of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infections.},
  author={Ziad A. Memish and Alimuddin Zumla and Rafat F Al-Hakeem and Abdullah A. Al-Rabeeah and Gwen M. Stephens},
  journal={The New England journal of medicine},
  year={2013},
  volume={368 26},
  pages={
          2487-94
        }
}

• Z. Memish, Alimuddin Zumla, +2 authors G. Stephens
• Published 26 June 2013
• Medicine
• The New England journal of medicine

A human coronavirus, called the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), was first identified in September 2012 in samples obtained from a Saudi Arabian businessman who died from acute respiratory failure. Since then, 49 cases of infections caused by MERS-CoV (previously called a novel coronavirus) with 26 deaths have been reported to date. In this report, we describe a family case cluster of MERS-CoV infection, including the clinical presentation, treatment outcomes, and household relationships of three young men who became ill with MERS-CoV infection after the hospitalization of an elderly male relative, who died of the disease. Twenty-four other family members living in the same household and 124 attending staff members at the hospitals did not become ill. MERS-CoV infection may cause a spectrum of clinical illness. Although an animal reservoir is suspected, none has been discovered. Meanwhile, global concern rests on the ability of MERS-CoV to cause major illness in close contacts of patients.