Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday that a recent conducted health review showed that over 100 cases of Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) had not been reported.
According to CBC News, After the new numbers came out, including a case that was reported on Tuesday, the number of MERS cases in Saudi Arabia since 2012 is now up to 689, with the number of disease caused deaths at 283.
The World Health Organization(WHO) must receive notification of a MERS case within 24 hours under current regulations. Experts such as Michael Osterholm, the University of Minnesota director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy, believe that Saudi Arabia should answer for why these deaths and MERS cases were not reported when they first occurred. He stated that the hidden cases may have intentional to keep the numbers lower or that the unreported cases were a result of incompetency.
Dr. Allison McGeer, a doctor who aided in investigating a MERS outbreak in Saudi Arabia last year said that the unreported numbers could be due to the risk of false positive tests. The doctors may have kept numbers lower to prevent those from tainting the numbers.
Tariq Madani, the head of ministry board stated that there concerns for the MERS outbreak are actually going down. He said that while the health review showed higher numbers than previously noted, there has been a decrease in the number of cases reported over the last few weeks, according to Fox News.