Health care officials have warned doctors to beware of camel flu as football fans begin returning from World Cup matches in Qatar.
The UK’s Health Security Agency has advised doctors to be careful around patients with fever and breathing difficulties, British news agency Metro reported. The Australian Department of Health has warned citizens returning from the 2022 FIFA World Cup that they “should be aware of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)”, the virus that causes camel flu.
This guidance also lists cough and diarrhea as symptoms of life-threatening infections for which there is no vaccine. Australian authorities warn that the “rare and dangerous respiratory disease” from the Middle East is spread “through close contact with virus-carrying camels or an infected person, or by eating uncooked camel meat or unpasteurized camel milk.”
Although not commonly found in humans, it has been fatal in 35% of cases reported to the World Health Organization. It was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and has since appeared in the United States, the United Kingdom, and about a dozen other countries outside the Middle East. Sometimes pneumonia results from infection.
[ Miles de argentinos y marroquíes llegan a Qatar de última hora, pero sufren para obtener entradas ]
English soccer fans are starting to return from Qatar after their team lost 2-1 to France on Saturday. The Australian national team achieved an impressive 1-0 victory over Denmark on November 30, but was later sacked after losing on December 3 to Argentina. On the same day, the US national team was eliminated from the tournament. Argentina will meet Croatia on Tuesday on a trip to the tournament final against the winner of Wednesday’s match between France and Morocco.
According to FIFA’s tally, more than 2.45 million people participated in the first 48 matches of the World Cup in Qatar.
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