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Saudi Arabia appoints U.S. experts to halt spread of MERS-CoV

Xinhua, January 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Saudi Health Ministry announced the appointment of U.S. experts to halt the spread of infectious and noncommunicable diseases, including the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Arab News reported Wednesday.

There have been 837 MERS infections and 361 fatalities since September 2012.

Currently, just six patients are undergoing treatment for MERS at government hospitals. 471 patients treated at hospitals have recovered and are now leading normal lives according to a ministry statement.

The experts hail from the Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States. The decision forms part of a recently signed agreement between the ministry's command and control center and the CDC and includes training and support for Saudi professionals under the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP).

The program will be accomplished in cooperation with King Saud University under the supervision of a foreign adviser for a period of three years, according to the undersecretary for public health and president of the central command and control center, Abdul Aziz bin Saeed.

He added that this constitutes an essential detail in the continued cooperation between the World Health Organization and the CDC on MERS and other communicable diseases. Endit