The large corona-virus outbreak (COVID-19), which occurred in Saudi Arabia in 2012, posed several concerns concerning similarities to Middle East respiratory syndrome (Corona virus).
Similarities
Middle East respiratory syndrome and emerging corona virus share the possibility of animal-to-human transmission, where the World Health Organization believes that Middle East respiratory syndrome can be traced to camels, while the ‘the emerging corona virus is thought to originate from bats.
People with the virus have similar symptoms, such as high fever and cough that can progress to pneumonia, difficulty breathing, sore throat and sneezing, and muscle and joint pain.
The risk of death increases due to both illness in people over the age of 60 and people with chronic illnesses.
The Differences
The main difference between Middle East respiratory syndrome and COVID-19 is the rate of infection and death, as the “Saudi Crown” is more deadly than its new counterpart, killing 866 out of 2,519 people infected, with a rate 35% mortality.
In contrast, the mortality rate due to the new crown has so far reached 3.4%, which is a low rate compared to the rate recorded in other viruses of the same family.
The new Corona virus infects many more people than it is registered due to respiratory syndrome in the Middle East, if the number of people infected with the emerging virus exceeds 156 thousand.
Unlike COVID-19, the respiratory syndrome virus is not easily transmitted between people, except in close contact, such as providing clinical care to an infected patient without taking strict hygiene measures, which explains the spread respiratory syndrome in the Arab region. More precisely, after going from one Arab humped camel to another.
