MERS: Omani relative has sickness

[webfact]

Omani relative has sickness



BANGKOK: -- One of the three family members who accompanied the Omani patient for heart treatment at a Bangkok hospital is now sick, indicating he might be contracted with the deadly respiratory syndrome virus.

Director general of the Communicable Diseases Control Department Dr Sophon Mekthon said a family member of the first Mers case patient is now sick.

He said this relative now has unusual symptoms.

He has cough and has chest pain, the doctor said.

He said laboratory test will be conducted today to confirm if the relative is infected with the deadly disease.

He said now 59 people having close contact with the Omani patient are placed under close monitoring, while health officials are also looking for the taxi driver who drove them from the hotel to a private hospital.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/omani-relative-has-sickness


-- Thai PBS 2015-06-19

[Somtamnication]

Oops!

And here it starts.....

[webfact]

Omani MERS patient's relatives tested for virus in Thailand
AFP

BANGKOK: -- Thai authorities Friday said two relatives of an Omani man found to have MERS were being tested for the deadly virus in the kingdom.

Thailand, a booming medical tourism hub popular with Middle Eastern patients, Thursday confirmed the Omani, 75, had MERS, days after he arrived at a Bangkok hospital for treatment for a heart condition.

On Friday the Omani patient was "getting a bit better", said Thailand's Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin at a press conference on the outskirts of Bangkok.

But two of his male family members, among three relatives with whom he travelled to Thailand on Monday, were being tested for MERS after one was found to have a cough and the other a fever.

"We have taken their samples for laboratory testing," Rajata told reporters, adding the results should be available Friday evening.

The relatives are in quarantine at the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province outside the Thai capital where the Omani patient is also being treated.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has spread at a rapid pace in South Korea since the first case was diagnosed on May 20, infecting 166 people in what is the largest outbreak outside Saudi Arabia.

The MERS case was the first recorded in Thailand and also the first in Southeast Asia since the South Korean outbreak.

Thai authorities are monitoring a further 85 people who have been in contact with the Omani, including those on board his flight to Bangkok, at hospital or in their homes, a health ministry spokesman told AFP Friday.

Authorities are also still trying to locate one of the 21 "high risk" people identified on that flight -- a person from the northeastern Thai province of Buriram.

In a bid to contain the deadly virus Thai officials have installed thermoscans at airports to detect passengers with fever and are also handing out information pamphlets about MERS in Thai, Arabic and English.

Rajata also said that Thailand has informed airlines about the transit passengers and crew who are no longer in the country but deemed at risk after sharing the flight with the Omani man.

Earlier government spokesman Sunsern Kaewkumnerd told AFP authorities were confident that Thailand's measures to contain the virus were "under control".

According to World Health Organization data MERS cases have been reported in four Asian countries before Thailand since the virus first surfaced in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

Malaysia and the Philippines reported cases before the South Korean outbreak in May, while China reported a person with MERS who had travelled to the country after recent exposure in South Korea, according to a WHO statement.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2015-06-19

[suzythaivisa]

"He has cough and has chest pain, the doctor said."

nah he aint got MERS, he just isnt accustom to the all pervading aroma of eau de la khlaawng

[carstenp]

Oops!

And here it starts.....

Indeed. but the problem is this guy "while health officials are also looking for the taxi driver who drove them from the hotel to a private hospital." How many persons has he been in contact with?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

MERS supposedly is not contagious during the incubation period... So as long as they catch up with and check direct contact folks like the taxi driver before too long, that shouldn't be an issue.

It's only the close contacts of those infected that they DON'T catch up with and check who become the potential problem.

[Robby nz]

A big problem with this one could be North Korea if it has spread to there would they be likely to tell anyone ?

[sir charles IV]

Ban Arabs from entering. More problems will be solved.

[NCC1701A]

[NCC1701A]

[suzythaivisa]

Ban Arabs from entering. More problems will be solved.

ban all middle east airlines from operating and it will be stopped in its tracks pronto.

[BigBadGeordie]

Ban Arabs from entering. More problems will be solved.

ban all middle east airlines from operating and it will be stopped in its tracks pronto.

And of course, I assume, ypu would also want to ban all South Korean, Chinese and Thai Airlines from flying as these countries (amongst others) have confirmed MERS cases.

Carefull, your racism is showing.

[coulson]

Ban Arabs from entering. More problems will be solved.

Again, the numbnuts attitude appears, preventing thousands of daily layovers/ Expats and European tourists coming from Major transport hubs is not a viable solution.

If you're referring to just the Arab nationals, then see how TAT will handle refusing entry to a million medical tourists per year, who happen to be extremely rich and 'do' actually spend more than the Chinese. They will be happy to take their business to Malaysia.

Imposing a strict screening for all outgoing flights is reasonable, as is being very careful with those inbound passengers.

TAT do however need to be a little clearer about this proposed medical clearance and what exactly is required. It appears you don't even need symptoms now to get locked up.

Edited June 28, 2015 by coulson

[suzythaivisa]

Ban Arabs from entering. More problems will be solved.

ban all middle east airlines from operating and it will be stopped in its tracks pronto.

And of course, I assume, ypu would also want to ban all South Korean, Chinese and Thai Airlines from flying as these countries (amongst others) have confirmed MERS cases.

Carefull, your racism is showing.

Careful your avarice is showing