aarogya.com
  • Home
  • Complementary Medicine
    • Ayurveda
    • Homeopathy
    • Naturopathy
    • Acupressure
    • Acupuncture
    • Aromatherapy
    • Batch Flower Remedies
    • Home Remedies
    • Massage
    • Yoga
    • Meditation
    • Reiki
    • Bodywork
    • Medical Palmistry
  • Conditions & Diseases
    • Acute Diarrheal Disease
    • Appendicitis
    • Blindness
    • Brucellosis
    • Chicken Pox
    • Conjunctivitis
    • Dysentery
    • Hookworm
    • Japanese Encephalitis
    • Lymphatic Filariasis
    • Plague
    • Rubella
    • Typhoid Fever
    • Yellow Fever
    • Allergy
    • Arthritis
    • Blood Pressure
    • Computer Health Hazards
    • Chikungunya Fever
    • Dengue
    • Guinea Worm
    • Influenza
    • Leprosy
    • Malaria
    • Poliomyelitis
    • Tetanus
    • Whooping Cough
    • Viral Hepatitis
    • Amebiasis
    • Asthma
    • Bronchitis
    • Diagnostic Tests
    • Cholera
    • Diphtheria
    • Hepatitis
    • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
    • Leptospirosis
    • Measles
    • Rabies
    • Tuberculosis
    • Yaws
  • Family Health
    • Children's Health
    • Diet & Nutrition
    • First Aid
    • Fitness
    • Humor & Trivia
    • Men's Health
    • Preventive Health
    • Senior's Health
    • Senior Citizen Corner
    • Teen’s Health
    • Vets and Pets
    • Women’s Health
  • Health Resources
    • Blood Donation
    • Career Opportunities
    • Daily Health Tips
    • Health Programs
    • Featured Hospitals
    • Medical Education
    • Health Professional's Negligence
    • Medical Tourism
    • Video Eye
    • Rural Health
    • Patients' Rights Forum
  • Insurance
    • Euthanasia
    • Health Insurance
    • Health Insurance Policies
    • Insurance Companies
    • Medical Ethics
    • Medical Jurisprudence
    • Research
    • Telemedicine
    • Compare Health Insurance
  • Sex & Sexuality
    • What is Sex & Sexuality?
    • FAQs
    • Marriage & Pregnancy
    • Sex Education
  • Support Groups
    • Addiction
    • Aids
    • Cancer
    • Epilepsy
    • Swine Flu
    • Blood Search
    • Vivah
    • Health Directory
    • Alzheimer's Disease
    • Medical Support Groups
    • Cardiology
    • Depression
    • Depression Screening Test
    • Diabetes
    • Disability
    • Kidney
    • Obesity
    • Pregnancy
    • Schizophrenia
    • Vitiligo
Aarogya.com
Marathi | Gujarati | Register | Login
  • Home
  • News and Updates
  • Year 2013
  • India at high risk of importing MERS virus, say scientists

India at high risk of importing MERS virus, say scientists

  • Print
Details
Hits: 3897

India has been named as among the countries that face the highest risk of importing the deadly MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) coronavirus.

International scientists on Saturday warned India that the new SARS–like virus that has emerged in the Middle East could spread faster and wider during two international mass gatherings involving millions of people in the next few months.

For the first time ever, scientists analyzed worldwide airline traffic and historic Haj data to predict population movements in and out of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East during two mass gatherings to help countries assess their potential for MERS introduction via returning travellers and pilgrims.

Aarogya news

Scientists from St Michaels Hospital in Toronto have named India as among those facing the highest risk, with Mumbai and Kozhikode at the top of the list of susceptible cities. Around 1.7 lakh Indian Muslims will visit Haj this year.

TRACKING A DEADLY DISEASE
  • MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) is caused by a SARS–like virus believed to spread from the Gulf
  • It has symptoms similar to H1N1 or swine flu
  • Scientists from St Michaels Hospital in Toronto analysed worldwide airline traffic and historic Haj data to predict population movements in and out of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East during Umrah and Haj
  • Around 1.7 lakh Indian Muslims will go on Haj this year Worldwide mortality rate of MERS virus 50%

An outbreak of the MERS virus, similar to the SARS strain has emerged in the Middle East and researchers say that India is highly susceptible to the spread of the contagion. With a huge number of Indian pilgrims heading for Haj, cities like Mumbai and Kozhikode have emerged as the main inlet for the spread of the virus in the country.

The MERS coronavirus, which emerged in early 2012, has spread to several countries in Western Europe and North Africa where there have been localized clusters of cases.

Worldwide about 80 cases have been confirmed, with a mortality rate of more than 50%.

The team found that of the 16.8 million travellers who flew on commercial flights out of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates between June and November 2012 (the period starting one month before Ramzan and ending one month after the Haj), 51.6% had destinations in just eight countries—India (16.3%), Egypt (10.4%), Pakistan (7.8%), Britain (4.3%), Kuwait (3.6%), Bangladesh (3.1%), Iran (3.1%) and Bahrain (2.9%).

Two cities from India—Mumbai and Kozhikode—were among the 12 like Cairo, Kuwait City, London, Bahrain, Beirut, Dhaka, Karachi, Manila, Istanbul and Jakarta that each received more than 350,000 commercial air travellers between June and November 2012 from the four countries where MERS cases have been traced back to. Scientists therefore say there is high potential for the virus to spread faster and wider in India during two annual events that draw millions of domestic and foreign Muslims to Saudi Arabia.

The first is Umrah, a pilgrimage that can be performed at any time of year but is considered particularly auspicious during the month of Ramadan, which this year began on July 9 and ends on August 7.

The second is the Haj, a five–day pilgrimage required of all physically and financially able Muslims at least once in their life. It takes place from October 13–18 this year and is expected to draw more than 3 million people.

The scientists say "collectively, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Nepal represent the final destinations of nearly one–third of all international air travellers".


Source
Times of India
22 July 2013, London

Disclaimer: The news story on this page is the copyright of the cited publication. This has been reproduced here for visitors to review, comment on and discuss. This is in keeping with the principle of ’Fair dealing’ or ’Fair use’. Visitors may click on the publication name, in the news story, to visit the original article as it appears on the publication’s website.

0
Introducing Digital Practice for Doctors & Healthcare professionals
Swine Flu
National Award for Outstanding achievement by a Non-Professional - Tushar Sampat
Health Professional's Negligence
Health Professional's Negligence
Records of published articles in the newspapers helps common people about precautions to be taken while seeking the services from health professionals and also helps health professionals to rectify the negligence.
read more…
Specialties
Common Symptoms


Aarogya Network

aarogya.com aims to be India’s leading comprehensive health information portal. The site has sections, which cover almost all the medical specialties and give useful information on various diseases. To enhance its reach, the content is available in Indian languages too. We were the first health website to introduce online support groups. Addiction support and Epilepsy support are examples of some very active and vibrant communities.

» Click here to see all our support groups

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

 Get health related new information.

Pune Aarogya
Digital Media Dedicated to Healthcare of Punekars

Health Tools

  • Health Directory
  • Message Board
  • Health Calculators
  • Depression Screening Test

About Aarogya.com

aarogya.com aims to be India’s leading comprehensive health information portal. The site has sections, which cover almost all the medical specialties

Read more...

Suggestions

This is YOUR site, so if you have suggestions or feedback on how we can improve it for you, please let us know! We do our best to keep up!

Read more...

User Comments

“My name is Paulette Conners and I just had to send you an email thanking you since one of the pages on your site was very helpful!”

  • About Us
  • Company Profile
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Feedback
  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap
  • Invite Your Friends

© 2017 www.aarogya.com. All Rights Reserved.