A HealthDay news report indicates that MERS-CoV infections are often associated with healthcare settings.

Jennifer C. Hunter, DrPH, from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues reviewed laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV cases reported to the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from Jan. 1, 2013, to May 9, 2014, to identify and describe epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of people with healthcare-associated MERS-CoV infection.

The researchers found that 42 percent of the 65 case-patients identified with MERS-CoV infection had health care-associated cases. Based on epidemiologic and genetic sequencing findings, three healthcare clusters were identified, one of which resulted in 20 infected people in one hospital.

“MERS-CoV in healthcare settings spread predominantly before MERS-CoV infection was diagnosed, underscoring the importance of increasing awareness and infection control measures at first points of entry to health care facilities,” the authors write.

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