Anyone can get this viral infection directly or indirectly from dromedary camels.
Symptoms are fever, cough, shortness of breath, pneumonia, and sometimes it is accompanied by stomach upset like diarrhea and vomiting.
A blood test, sputum culture, stool culture, chest X-ray, and nasal and throat swabs can do viral detection.
There is no specific anti-MERS COV medicine available at present.
Treatment includes managing pain and fever and providing antibiotics for secondary bacterial infections.
Older people above 60 years, people with weakened immune systems, people with chronic illnesses such as cancer, heart, kidney, and lung disease, and diabetics are at greater risk of infection from this disease.
General hygiene measures such as frequent hand washing before and after touching animals and avoiding contact with sick animals should be followed.
One should avoid eating raw or undercooked animal products such as milk, meat, and urine.
WHO targets to developing three types of MERS COV vaccine:
1. A human vaccine will protect, in the long term, people at high exposure risk, like healthcare workers and people dealing with infected camels.
2. A human vaccine will provide short-term protection, which can be used in outbreaks.
3. A dromedary camel vaccine, which will prevent camel-to-human infection.