MERS-CoV reaches Philippines, Six Negrenses suspected of possible virus infection

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OFW passengers of Etihad Airlines Flight EY 0424, a flight from the Middle East, are reportedly at risk of accumulating the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) infection, according to the Philippine health authorities lately.

Pertinent reports said that six of these OFW passengers are from the province of Negros Occidental and Oriental.

Provincial health officer, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, on Tuesday said that the four Negrenses, were immediately quarantined as precaution, and luckily tested negative. The first two were released Monday while the other two on next day.

According to Dr. Tumimbang, four of these Negrenses, including a female manager, a male seafarer, a male engineer and a female nurse are from Bacolod City. The one from Talisay City is a male technician. The other one is from the town of Toboso.

The four OFWs from Bacolod City were confined at Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, according to Dr. Tumimbang.

As stated in pertinent sources, a total of 22 people have been quarantined for possible infection of the MERS-CoV. Fourteen of them are now isolated at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), one in a private hospital in Cebu, two in Negros Oriental and the other four in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.

The following image contains the names of 43 OFW passengers of Etihad Airlines EY 0424, who are currently being traced by the Department of Health for possible MERS-CoV infection examination/isolation.

The Department of Health is now reminding all Filipinos working abroad, particularly those in the Middle East countries to be always vigilant against extant health threats in public places.

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MERS-CoV Overview

MERS-CoV or the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus was first identified in a 65-year old patient with acute pneumonia, from Saudi Arabia, in April 2012.

MERS-CoV is identified as a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA novel species of the genus Betacoronavirus. Other term for MERS-CoV is EMC/2012.

The latest MERS-CoV cases have been reported as of April 16th, 2014, in several countries including Jordan, Qatar, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines.

Of the overall MERS count of 238, 92 of the infected people have reportedly died from complications.

According to the World Health Organization, the infection could more likely spread through breathing in of the contaminated air. Global health officials insisted that the "risk of sustained person-to-person transmission seems to be very slow."

Health authorities now fear for the healthcare workers, as they are highly exposed to amass MERS-CoV infection through human to human transmission.

Categories: Health