The fight against the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which has killed at least 722 people over the past five years, is honing in on its target: camels. Saudi Arabia has been heavily criticized for not being transparent about MERS, but Van Kerkhove said that had totally changed. Literally a drive-thru in their emergency department,” said Van Kerkhove, explaining how patients are vetted before being allowed in. The WHO MERS program is also under-funded, Van Kerkhove said. The virus must be tracked like bird flu is in birds, Van Kerkhove said.

Source: Egypt Independent October 02, 2017 02:15 UTC