Are we neglecting MERS-CoV during COVID-19 pandemic: a need for refocusing on surveillance of the deadly MERS-CoV infection

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the term Coronavirus referred primarily to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the Arab world. The MERS-CoV was first identified in a 60-year-old male who died of respiratory distress and renal failure in June 2012, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia [ 1 Zumla A. Hui D.S. Perlman S. Middle East respiratory syndrome. The Lancet. 2015; 386: 995-1007 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (826) Google Scholar ]. Recent estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that the infection has spread to 27 countries, including all six WHO regions. As of 29 August 2023, WHO had received reports of 2605 cases, the majority of which (n=2196; 84%) were from Saudi Arabia. It is pertinent to mention that case fatality rate (CFR) due to MERS-CoV (36%) is higher than COVID-19 (17.62%) [ 2 Organization, W.H. WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. 2023; Available from: https://covid19.who.int/. Google Scholar ], as a total of 937 deaths have been reported till date. Notably, most of these fatal cases (n=856, 91%) were reported in Saudi Arabia [ 3 Organization, W.H. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) - Saudi Arabia. 2023; Available from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2023-DON484#:∼:text=From%2013%20September%202012%20to,CFR%2039%25)%20in%20KSA. Google Scholar ].