Has WHO overlooked 5 MERS cases in Saudi Arabia?

Previously, I discussed discrepancies between the MERS case counts for the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) (link). The WHO case count differed from the number posted on the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health website by 15 cases. At least 12 cases previously announced by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health had not yet been posted in Disease Outbreak News by the WHO through October 21, 2014.

Yesterday the WHO reported in aggregate 12 new MERS cases from Saudi Arabia from the period October 18 to October 26, 2014 (link). These 12 cases do not equate to the 12-case differential noted in my previous post. The most recent WHO report regarding cases from Saudi Arabia (October 16 link) only enumerates cases through October 11, 2014. However, between October 12 and October 16, the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health website announced five additional MERS cases, Taif (3), Riyadh (1), and Al Karj (1).

Hopefully, the WHO will report these cases in the future or discuss why they are not included in the total count for MERS cases from around the world.

Links to five Saudi Arabia MERS Cases (October 12-16)

http://www.moh.gov.sa/en/CCC/PressReleases/Pages/Statistics-2014-10-12-001.aspx

http://www.moh.gov.sa/en/CCC/PressReleases/Pages/Statistics-2014-10-13-001.aspx

http://www.moh.gov.sa/en/CCC/PressReleases/Pages/Statistics-2014-10-14-001.aspx

http://www.moh.gov.sa/en/CCC/PressReleases/Pages/Statistics-2014-10-16-001.aspx (2 cases)