Experts hired as 6 new coronavirus cases detected

The government has hired US and Canadian experts to help control the spread of coronavirus as six new suspected cases have been identified in Al-Ahsa, raising the total number of the infected cases in the Kingdom to 26 since September.
Fifteen victims have died since the outbreak of the deadly disease. Nine deaths occurred in Al-Ahsa.
Dr. Ziad Al-Memish, undersecretary at the Ministry of Health, said that all six suspected cases were from the Eastern Province.
He said that one of the six patients has already been discharged from the hospital while the remaining five are kept under observation.
Al-Memish said the foreign specialists are working in coordination with the National Committee of Infectious Diseases.
The committee, headed by Al-Memish, is composed of consultants from the local universities and various health agencies across the Kingdom. It is tasked to make scientific recommendations about the disease.
Disease experts suggested that the new virus be called Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
The virus can be passed between humans following prolonged contact.
Dr. Siouxsie Wiles, a microbiologist and infectious disease specialist at the University of Auckland, told a London-based newspaper that a feature of disease was that “the majority of infections have occurred within health care facilities, such as hospitals, as has just been reported in France. Those people were in hospital for a reason though, suggesting that some underlying disease may be required to make people more vulnerable to infection with the coronavirus.”
Transmission of the disease is thought to be limited.
The virus has reached Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, but no further incidences have been reported.
“No new cases of the virus were found in any other part of the Kingdom,” Al-Memish said.
In an earlier statement, Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah said high temperature, cough and severe pneumonia affecting both lungs are the main symptoms of the disease.
“The way of transmission and source of the virus are still unknown. Serious efforts are being made for further research, survey and study; to inform the people ways to tackle the deadly disease,” the minister said.