Egyptian authorities are preparing for a possible corona virus outbreak as the first case has emerged in Egypt.
The Egyptian Health Ministry discovered the first case in a young man working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was admitted in the Abbasiya Fever Hospital.
The corona virus infects humans and animals alike. It can cause respiratory diseases for humans that range from a common cold to the SARS severe acute respiratory syndrome.
The virus that was first discovered in April 2012 is a new one that was not previously detected in humans and has claimed the lives of half of those who were infected by it.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the symptoms include severe acute respiratory illness, fever, cough, shortness of breath, pneumonia, kidney failure in some cases as well as stomach and intestine diseases and diarrhea.
The virus was detected specifically among camels. Its transmission mechanisms are still unknown as to whether it is through coughing and sneezing or through direct physical contact.
The WHO advises health care facilities to take appropriate measures to reduce the risk of transmission from infected patients to other patients, visitors or staff, especially that the virus may not be diagnosed early because symptoms may seem mild in the beginning.
There is no vaccine currently available for the virus.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
