Qatar's health ministry yesterday reported a MERS-CoV infection, its third of the year, and Saudi Arabia today confirmed a new case linked to camel exposure, reflecting disease activity in the country that has tailed off to just sporadic illnesses over the past few months.

In a statement, Qatar's Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) said yesterday that the patient is a 23-year-old resident who had not been in contact with other confirmed cases and does not suffer from any underlying health conditions. The man's illness was detected after he was admitted to Hamad General Hospital with symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose, and backache.

The patient is in stable condition in an isolation unit, the MOPH said. The agency does not mention exposure to camels, a known risk factor.

Qatar has now recorded 18 MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases. The country's two earlier cases this year involved a 66-year-old man who owned a camel barn in Saudi Arabia who died from his illness and a 40-year-old camel worker who was sickened by the virus in early May.

Saudi man in stable condition

In a related development, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported a new MERS-CoV infection, involving a 54-year-old man from Al Kharj in central Saudi Arabia, the country's first in 5 days.

The MOH said in a statement that the man is hospitalized in stable condition. An investigation into the source of his illness revealed contact with camels.

Since the virus first emerged in humans in 2012, MERS-CoV has infected 1,386 people in Saudi Arabia, 593 of them fatally, according to the MOH. Three people are still being treated for their illnesses.

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