First MERS case confirmed in Thailand: public health minister

[huahinjoe]

>>Thanarak Phalipat, director of the Bureau of Epidemiology, said 59 people who were in contact with the patient have been identified so far by the ministry, including health personnel, hotel employees, passengers who sat two rows in front and behind the patient on the plane, and two taxi drivers.<< Quote

Well done Thailand!!

It seems like you have been very proactive in preventing a spread of the virus.

Yeah and also they have been bracing for MERS for the past 6 months checking trough all the 67 border crossings they said on Aljazeera earlier...

[worgeordie]

I hope they have him under strict quarantine,and not let him wander around Bangkok

like the suspected Ebola carrier a while ago,who just walked out of hospital.

regards worgeordie

[Satcommlee]

Probably bill padding! he was already coming for treatment - "what can we add to his bill?"

[Nick167]

Only advice I can give to all is to stay away from the Nana Area and the hospital there and also certain areas in Sukhumvit and also to spray disinfectants to all those in burkahs etc.

[phoenixdoglover]

Only advice I can give to all is to stay away from the Nana Area and the hospital there and also certain areas in Sukhumvit and also to spray disinfectants to all those in burkahs etc.

[webfact]

MERS
Tourist first MERS case in Thailand
PUANGCHOMPOO PRASERT
THE NATION


A Thai Airways International worker sprays a disinfectant in an aircraft cabin at Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday, as part of measures to prevent the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

The 75-year-old Arab man had contact with 59 people after arriving on Monday for heart treatment

BANGKOK: -- THE PUBLIC Health Ministry yesterday announced the first MERS case in Thailand after laboratory tests confirmed that a foreign visitor had contracted the deadly virus, Dr Prasert Thongcharoen, the ministry's senior adviser, said.

Dr Prasert, who is also chairman of Thailand's expert panel on virology and epidemics, said the patient was understood to have contracted Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in a foreign country, before arriving in Thailand, where he was diagnosed.

The patient, a 75-year-old man from an Arab country, has reportedly had contact with up to 59 people since arriving on Monday. He was also undergoing treatment for heart-related symptoms at a private hospital in Bangkok.

The patient, who is in a stable condition, has been quarantined in a special unit at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi since yesterday.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha called on the public to not panic but stay alert, adding the government is confident of its ability to contain the disease.

An urgent ministry regulation was published in the Royal Gazette yesterday, in which MERS was categorised as one of the 22 contagious diseases that have to be reported to public health or authorities upon contraction.

Earlier, there were rumours of MERS cases in Roi-Et and other places in Thailand, but health authorities dismissed them as groundless.

The Public Health Ministry has also stepped up its surveillance of suspected MERS cases and held a teleconference with all provincial health authorities nationwide yesterday to beef up measures in response to the possible spread of the virus.

So far, the authorities have focused on people who could have been exposed to the disease, especially those who have recently been in at-risk countries such as South Korea and Middle Eastern nations.

Dr Opas Karnkavinpong, deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department, said the surveillance system had been strictly enforced and all potential victims had undergone laboratory tests, and those results would be known within one day.

Agence France-Presse said South Korea reported three more deaths from MERS yesterday, bringing the number of fatalities there to 23 and amplifying fears that authorities do not have the outbreak under control after the World Health Organisation criticised their response.

Three more cases were also confirmed yesterday, despite authorities saying earlier in the week that South Korea had weathered the worst of the crisis. The number of infections now stands at 165, in what is the largest outbreak of MERS outside Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Thai Airways International said it was waiving rescheduling fees for customers who are unable to travel to Korea because of the outbreak, until July 31.

Wiwat Piyawiroj, THAI vice president for sales and distribution for Thailand and Indochina, said the measure was aimed at addressing concerns over passenger safety and convenience.

The fee has been waived for changes to flights and routing of round-trip THAI tickets for Bangkok-Seoul and Bangkok-Busan. This also covers tickets for flights issued before June 8 for travel to Seoul or Busan between now and July 31.

However, tickets must have been booked at a THAI ticketing office.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Tourist-first-MERS-case-in-Thailand-30262659.html


-- The Nation 2015-06-19

[NCFC]

I blame it on the Khmers

[bangrak]

...And what the Thai health ministry will discover, it will hide and deny the best it can, also under pressure of TAT and other powers moved more by pride than common sense... TiT... (For sure under these circumstances, when it would spread, you'd by all means better be in South-Korea than in Thailand!)

[bangrak]

I hope they have him under strict quarantine,and not let him wander around Bangkok

like the suspected Ebola carrier a while ago,who just walked out of hospital.

regards worgeordie

You hope, me too, but don't we know better (like what about all the people who have possibly been in contact with that man, ignored or what, starting with his family, the paramedics, the hospital staff, the passengers on his flight, all spread over Bkk and further...). And no hope for serious detection methods, erm..., remember SARS, what a pile of crap that was then, the land of ubu!

[Lopchan]

What do you reckon the chances are that the latest strain of MERS is a genetically engineered virus released by the world PO-lice in the middle east to further the fight against terrorism?

[juice777]

From the friendly folks who brought you jihad, female genital mutilation, beheadings, suicide bombers, chadors, misogyny and global warming, 72 virgins for killing infidels, and so much more.......a new gift...MERS! You gotta lovem.

[juice777]

From the friendly folks who brought you jihad, female genital mutilation, beheadings, suicide bombers, chadors, misogyny and global warming, 72 virgins for killing infidels, and so much more.......a new gift...MERS! You gotta lovem.

[/quote nob

[MaiChai]

Didn't Prayut say there is no MERs in Thailand yesterday? That man is so sure of himself.

You could also say there are some downsides to having such a good tourism industry? Mers and other diseases from abroad, Chinese and Russian tourists, east European ATM scamming gangs, Nigerian love scammers, African drug dealers, Japanese child farming, Korean online gambling gangs, etc. The list is endless of foreign undesirables setting up shop in Thailand! Oops, I mean tourism.

[fareastguy]

Time to stay in-doors I think

Thailand can't even control dengue !!

[captspectre]

Now watch the Thai Ministry of Health completely botch the management of both disease and PR concerning it!

I agree, what are the Thai's going to do about the number of people coming in from the middle east? are they going to take steps? haven't seen anything yet!

[JOC]

Time to stay in-doors I think

Thailand can't even control dengue !!

Leave!!

The airport is still open....................

[JOC]

I hoped MERS kills many <deleted> farangs, I swa today on TV,

But sure a moderator will deleted silence this message as before, because TV is about posts and viewers = MONEY, YES MONEY

OK I will have to screen grab this before a mod deletes, I will do now to have proof

and I am <deleted> drunk, because because a Thai guy shot my 14s friend.

OK my friend is/was 67, but my friend for 14 years.

He was MR. GOOD, never drink or smoke

<deleted> Thailand and <deleted> me

WHAT every month 5-10-20 farangs get killed, business as usual.

NO MORE ....

IN HONOR of my friend I will OPEN a website, 100% for farangs die, scammed, ripped off or what ever.

I am 100% sure within 2-10 weeks you will need a VPN to access it, because TH will block it.

IF the new BOSS GENERAL whats to be good and understand Thailand, well HE got me now

I am drunk now, bit tomorrow I order WWW.<deleted>-THAILAND.com

Goodnight for now.

Lord have mercy!!

[gerrythepoet]

The man was taken first taken to a private hospital then transferred to a Government hospital- for God's name why? The outbreak in South Korea has been confined to a hospital so to transfer him to a hospital with less resources due to financial constraints and less quality management ????

[4u2mad]

Now watch the Thai Ministry of Health completely botch the management of both disease and PR concerning it!

I agree, what are the Thai's going to do about the number of people coming in from the middle east? are they going to take steps? haven't seen anything yet!

i think I should take steps - bloody great big ones out of here!

[4u2mad]

Now watch the Thai Ministry of Health completely botch the management of both disease and PR concerning it!

I agree, what are the Thai's going to do about the number of people coming in from the middle east? are they going to take steps? haven't seen anything yet!

i think I should take steps - bloody great big ones out of here!

[optad]

Time to stay in-doors I think

Thailand can't even control dengue !!

Control dengue....

[JOC]

The man was taken first taken to a private hospital then transferred to a Government hospital- for God's name why? The outbreak in South Korea has been confined to a hospital so to transfer him to a hospital with less resources due to financial constraints and less quality management ????

Maybe the government hospital has better facilities to keep him isolated??

Sometimes the blind Thai-bashing here gets just a little over the top................

[optad]

The man was taken first taken to a private hospital then transferred to a Government hospital- for God's name why? The outbreak in South Korea has been confined to a hospital so to transfer him to a hospital with less resources due to financial constraints and less quality management ????

The south Korean thing was due to letting the infected person approach three / four hospitals before getting the diagnosis right. By then the virus had been laid in each of those places where it acquired suitable hosts.

You just cannot comment on this readily. It may be the case that the Thais were ready for and got it right. Or possibly, 100 others have been given some Tylenol, a sick slip and told to sleep it off.

In any event MERs, or any virus will inevitably occur in Thailand due to its Asian centrality volume of varied traffic and tropical environment. Thai bashing on this topic is very reflective of the poster.

MERS Virus’s Path: One Man, Many South Korean Hospitals

[BudRight]

You don't know the POWER of the MERSide

[quandow]

What do you reckon the chances are that the latest strain of MERS is a genetically engineered virus released by the world PO-lice in the middle east to further the fight against terrorism?

No, they're not that smart.

[SOTIRIOS]

.........if you can't detect it.....it doesn't 'occur'......

[Johnsy]

Hope all the people on that plane have been notified of their imminent risk of MERS... but somehow I doubt it.

[gerrythepoet]

I am not Thai bashing I was questioning why react in such a way to move from one hospital to another when on the face of it a private hospital costs more than a Government hospital. Thank you for the comments.

[Deli]

M/E - Ramadan - 'holiday makers' are coming to LoS soon...

Maybe in this case the Army should enforce some particular rules for control ?

Otherwise we might probably see lot's of face masks soon...

[little mary sunshine]

75 year old man from Arab Country.....how many people were on the flight from

The Arab Country. How did he ger to the first private hospital ,how many people

We're waiting to register at first hospital. Who came with him? Did they eat before

They went to the first hospital? How did he get to Govt. Hospital, cab, who was

Cab driver in contact with, family, food vendors....how many people waiting in

Govt. hospital to check in....not to mention flight cabin crew, passengers at

Immigration at Swampy, JUST THE BEGINNING OF HIS CONTACTS

Article says he was in CONTACT WITH 59 PEOPLE. MORE LIKE OVER

1559. AND COUNTING.