A case of imported Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus infection and public health response, Greece, April 2014

S Tsiodras; A Baka; A Mentis; D Iliopoulos; X Dedoukou; G Papamavrou; S Karadima; M Emmanouil; A Kossyvakis; N Spanakis; A Pavli; H Maltezou; A Karageorgou; G Spala; V Pitiriga; E Kosmas; S Tsiagklis; S Gkatzias; N G Koulouris; A Koutsoukou; P Bakakos; E Markozanhs; G Dionellis; K Pontikis; N Rovina; M Kyriakopoulou; P Efstathiou; T Papadimitriou; J Kremastinou; A Tsakris; G Saroglou

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.16.20782

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A case of imported Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus infection and public health response, Greece, April 2014
S Tsiodras^1,2 , A Baka¹ , A Mentis³ , D Iliopoulos¹ , X Dedoukou¹ , G Papamavrou¹ , S Karadima¹ , M Emmanouil³ , A Kossyvakis³ , N Spanakis⁴ , A Pavli¹ , H Maltezou¹ , A Karageorgou⁵ , G Spala¹ , V Pitiriga⁴ , E Kosmas⁶ , S Tsiagklis⁶ , S Gkatzias⁶ , N G Koulouris⁷ , A Koutsoukou⁸ , P Bakakos⁷ , E Markozanhs⁷ , G Dionellis⁷ , K Pontikis⁸ , N Rovina⁸ , M Kyriakopoulou⁸ , P Efstathiou⁵ , T Papadimitriou¹ , J Kremastinou¹ , A Tsakris⁴ , G Saroglou^1,6
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Affiliations: ¹ Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Athens, Greece ² University of Athens Medical School, Athens Greece ³ Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece ⁴ Microbiology Department, University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece ⁵ National Health Operations Center, Athens, Greece ⁶ Metropolitan Hospital Athens Greece ⁷ First Department of Respiratory Medicine, University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece ⁸ Intensive Care Medicine first Department of Respiratory Medicine, University of Athens Medical School, Athens Greece

Correspondence:
S Tsiodras
sotirios.tsiodras gmail.com
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Citation style for this article: Tsiodras S, Baka A, Mentis A, Iliopoulos D, Dedoukou X, Papamavrou G, Karadima S, Emmanouil M, Kossyvakis A, Spanakis N, Pavli A, Maltezou H, Karageorgou A, Spala G, Pitiriga V, Kosmas E, Tsiagklis S, Gkatzias S, Koulouris N G, Koutsoukou A, Bakakos P, Markozanhs E, Dionellis G, Pontikis K, Rovina N, Kyriakopoulou M, Efstathiou P, Papadimitriou T, Kremastinou J, Tsakris A, Saroglou G. A case of imported Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus infection and public health response, Greece, April 2014. Euro Surveill. 2014;19(16):pii=20782. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.16.20782 Received: 22 Apr 2014

Abstract

On 18 April 2014, a case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection was laboratory confirmed in Athens, Greece in a patient returning from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Main symptoms upon initial presentation were protracted fever and diarrhoea, during hospitalisation he developed bilateral pneumonia and his condition worsened. During 14 days prior to onset of illness, he had extensive contact with the healthcare environment in Jeddah. Contact tracing revealed 73 contacts, no secondary cases had occurred by 22 April.