Overview of preparedness and response for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Oman.

Several countries in the Middle East and around 22 countries worldwide have reported cases of human infection with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The exceptionally high fatality rate resulting from MERS-CoV infection in conjunction with the paucity of knowledge about this emerging virus has led to major public and international concern. Within the framework of the national acute respiratory illness surveillance, the Ministry of Health in the Sultanate of Oman has announced two confirmed cases of MERS-CoV to date. The aim of this report is to describe the epidemiological aspects of these two cases and to highlight the importance of public health preparedness and response. The absence of secondary cases among contacts of the reported cases can be seen as evidence of the effectiveness of infection prevention and control precautions as an important pillar of the national preparedness and response plan applied in the health care institutions in Oman.

Toxic metals in commercial marine fish in Oman with reference to national and international standards.

Commercially important fresh (581) and frozen (292) marine fish samples of 10 species were collected from seafood factories and evaluated using AAS and ICP-OES. Metal levels significantly (p<0.05) varied within and between species. However, there were no significant correlations among metals. There were significant interspecific differences for all metals, and yellowfin tuna had the highest level of cadmium and mercury however, red seabream had maximum numbers above the standards. The metal accumulation significantly varied between bottom feeders of intermediately size locally caught fish. The mean cadmium level ranged from 0.0049 to 0.036 mg kg(-1) and 1.37% of the total samples exceeded the EU and FAO standards. Mean lead content varied between 0.029 and 0.196 mg kg(-1), few samples crossed the EU (2.63%) and FAO (1.6%) limits. Mean mercury level ranged from 0.015 to 0.101 mg kg(-1) and none of the samples exceeded the EU limit. Of the total samples analyzed red seabream (2.06%), yellowfin tuna (1.14%), emperor (0.34%), santer bream (0.22%), king fish (0.11%) and skipjack tuna (0.11%) samples crossed the EU limits. In general, fish from these regions are within the safety levels recommended by various organizations and do not pose a health risk in terms of human diet.