As the FIFA World Cup kicks off in Qatar, authorities are warning supporters and recommending them not to approach camels and dromedaries, which are potentially carriers of a deadly coronavirus, Mers-CoV.
- There is no cure for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, MERS, which first emerged 10 years ago in Saudi Arabia.
- In total worldwide, 1,219 cases have been diagnosed since, causing the death of 449 people, reports the Pasteur Institute.
The Covid-19 virus is not the only coronavirus that will worry the health authorities during this 2022 Football World Cup, which will be held from November 20 to December 18 in Qatar. Another disease, also caused by a coronavirus, is also a source of concern: MERS, an acronym for “Middle East respiratory syndrome”.
What are the symptoms of the “camel virus” and how deadly is it?
The problem is that during this World Cup, fans could be in contact with the first vectors of this disease: camels and dromedaries. “Humans are infected through direct or indirect contact with infected camels, although the exact route of transmission remains unclear”, says the WHO. Mers-CoV, the coronavirus that causes MERS, is also sometimes called the “camel virus”. However, these camelids will be star animals during this event. The authorities have therefore asked supporters not to approach them in order to avoid contamination with Mers-CoV.
MERS causes symptoms that we know very well from the pandemic: fever, cough, shortness of breath, pneumonia and possible gastrointestinal disorders. “Severe forms of the disease can lead to respiratory failure” and lead to death in the most fragile people and patients with comorbidities such as diabetes, kidney failure, etc., details the World Health Organization (WHO). These non-specific symptoms sometimes slow down the diagnosis, especially in a country confronted for the first time with this type of virus, explains the Pasteur Institute.
According to official data, MERS causes death in 35% of cases. A figure to be taken with a grain of salt since the international institution admits that many mild cases have escaped its supervision and have therefore not been counted.
MERS: despite the World Cup, the risk of a pandemic is low
Fortunately, only prolonged contact with the humped animals or eating their poorly prepared meat poses a real risk. Contamination between humans is also possible but quite rare: very few cases have been observed and only in certain health centers. This year in Qatar, 2 people have succumbed to MERS (two camelid breeders) and 7 since 2012, according to WHO figures.
Because of this low risk, no major resources were deployed on site. The authorities contented themselves with a simple warning and the WHO did not recommend “no restrictions on travel and trade, nor the establishment of screening procedures at the entrance of countries”.
