• Ziad A Memish, Alimuddin I Zumla, Rafat F Al-Hakeem, Abdullah A Al-Rabeeah, and Gwen M Stephens.
• Global Center for Mass Gatherings Medicine, Ministry of Health, and Al-Faisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. zmemish@yahoo.com
• N. Engl. J. Med. 2013 Jun 27; 368 (26): 2487-94.

AbstractA human coronavirus, called the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), was first identified in September 2012 in samples obtained from a Saudi Arabian businessman who died from acute respiratory failure. Since then, 49 cases of infections caused by MERS-CoV (previously called a novel coronavirus) with 26 deaths have been reported to date. In this report, we describe a family case cluster of MERS-CoV infection, including the clinical presentation, treatment outcomes, and household relationships of three young men who became ill with MERS-CoV infection after the hospitalization of an elderly male relative, who died of the disease. Twenty-four other family members living in the same household and 124 attending staff members at the hospitals did not become ill. MERS-CoV infection may cause a spectrum of clinical illness. Although an animal reservoir is suspected, none has been discovered. Meanwhile, global concern rests on the ability of MERS-CoV to cause major illness in close contacts of patients.

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