We
will go back to some of our tweets of interest of the past week and expand
further on the indicators that we presented as they affect the security
situation of a country. When we produce vulnerability assessments for our
clients, six threat factors are analyzed and assessed while four hazards are
also analyzed and assessed. If gaps are identified they are covered by
atmospherics elements. The goal of our tweets is to highlight and
provide examples of the research that we do.
From 04 May:
1. Travel safety tip: Avoid close contacts with camels to help avoid MERS.
From 05 May:
2. Many
Gulf States considering state of emergency due to MERS today. Travellers
to area require special prevention measures to avoid virus.
From 06 May:
3. Aussie Gov't just published MERS travel info. More reactive advice based on news. We provide accurate MERS-CoV advice since a 26 July tweet.
Middle
East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)
is viral respiratory illness first reported in Saudi Arabia in the spring of
2012. It is caused by a coronavirus called MERS-CoV. Most people who
have been confirmed to have MERS-CoV infection developed severe acute
respiratory illness. They had fever, cough, and shortness of breath. About 30%
of these people died.
We
at PAR-SEC Consulting (without being medical professionals) have regularly reported on this new illness since July
2013, soon after cases were becoming more frequent and we then began to
establish that MERS was not an anomaly or segregated to one specific area but
was assessed as a real health hazard to travellers to the Middle East. July 2013 was the month of Ramadan, a time when many traveled to and from Muslim countries of northern Africa as well as the Near East and therefore there was the likelihood of MERS being distributed out of area. The Hajj followed in October when millions of Muslims traveled to Mecca and a significant potential was in
place for global propagation, albeit on a relatively small scale.
Regardless
of statistics and speculative discourse we now know a few important factors for
which travellers to the Middle East have a need to know:
- To date 85% of cases originated
from Saudi Arabia
- Camels are believed to be
carriers of a MERS anti-virus but also vectors of the disease
- There is no specific drug or
vaccine available for the MERS-CoV
- Medically considered a
disease & not SARS like
Our comment: As
of 2 May 2014, MERS-CoV cases have been reported in several countries,
including Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab
Emirates, Tunisia, the Philippines, and the United States.
Our research has shown that as of 08 May, there were over 525 cases reported globally and approximately 140 deaths. 449 cases of
MERS were localized in Saudi Arabia followed by less than 50 for the U.A.E. In
less than 10 months MERS cases have now more than tripled. MERS is known to spread from human to human, especially while in close contact in an airborne manner through the respiratory system.The exact source of MERS remains unknown but camels or bats are the likely suspects.
Our outlook: Due diligence must be carried out by travellers with respect to MERS, similarly to many other diseases and other health hazards. We believe that MERS cases will keep evolving in numbers and are likely to spread to new countries globally, however there are no needs to cancel planned trips to the Middle East or to drastically change any business plans.
We recommend that travellers wash their hands frequently, avoid close contacts with ill persons that may be prone to couching, etc. Furthermore, avoid contacts with camels and refrain to ride them as a precautionary measure. If you have a coughing bout, respiratory issues such as shortness of breath or develop a fever after returning from a Middle eastern country, you should seek immediate medical help and disclose your travels.
Every travel destination is uniquely different and requires adequate
research, analysis and accurate assessments to properly advise
against the possible threats and hazards. We welcome inquiries so we can
determine your security needs. Your first consultation is always
free. We invite you to review our past twitter posts @parsecconsult as
well as this blog's entries.
We encourage feedback and questions to our e-mail:parsec.consulting@gmail.com
Our website: http://parsecconsulting.wix.com/parsecconsulting
No comments:
Post a Comment