Camel flu: Qatar World Cup fans warned over MERS, 7 other diseases

As the FIFA World Cup 2002 continues in Qatar, health experts have warned fans over the threat of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) or “camel flu” and seven other diseases.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO)-backed experts, the 32-team competition “unavoidably poses potential infectious disease risks”.

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The warning has come from three academics who published a paper titled ‘Infection risks associated with the 2022 FIFA world cup in Qatar’ in the ‘New Microbes and New Infections’ journal.

“The FIFA World Cup unavoidably poses potential infectious disease risks to the host country (Qatar) and also to neighbouring countries and other countries due to the risk of importation and subsequent exportation and also local acquisition of infectious diseases,” the experts said.

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“… another possible respiratory tract illness is the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). MERS-CoV had caused multiple hospital outbreaks in Saudi Arabia and had caused limited number of cases in Qatar and the pattern was sporadic,” they added.

According to the paper, epidemiologic data from Qatar showed the occurrence of 28 cases of MERS (incidence of 1.7 per 1,000,000 population) and most cases had a history of contact with camels. “Thus, people with greater risk of developing severe disease are advised to avoid contact with dromedary camels, drinking raw camel milk or camel urine, or eating meat that has not been properly cooked.”

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Health experts have warned FIFA World Cup fans over eight diseases including COVID-19, Monkeypox, MERS, Vector-borne diseases (cutaneous leishmaniasis, malaria, dengue, rabies), Measles, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and Travellers’ diarrhoea.

What is MERS?

As per WHO, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a virus transferred to humans from infected dromedary camels. It is a zoonotic virus, meaning it is transmitted between animals and people, and it is contractable through direct or indirect contact with infected animals.

MERS-CoV has been identified in dromedaries in several countries in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. In total, 27 countries have reported cases since 2012, leading to 858 known deaths due to the infection and related complications.

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“The origins of the virus are not fully understood but according to the analysis of different virus genomes it is believed that it may have originated in bats and later transmitted to camels at some point in the distant past.

“Human-to-human transmission is possible, but only a few such transmissions have been found among family members living in the same household. In health care settings, however, human-to-human transmission appears to be more frequent,” the world health body said.

Symptoms of ‘camel flu’

MERS-CoV infections range from showing no symptoms (asymptomatic) or mild respiratory symptoms to severe acute respiratory disease and death. A typical presentation of MERS-CoV disease is fever, cough and shortness of breath. Pneumonia is a common finding, but not always present. Gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhoea, have also been reported, as per WHO.

Severe illness can cause respiratory failure that requires mechanical ventilation and support in an intensive care unit. The virus appears to cause more severe disease in older people, people with weakened immune systems and those with chronic diseases such as renal disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, and diabetes. Approximately 35% of MERS cases reported to WHO have died, WHO said.

The FIFA World Cup 2022 ends on December 18.