Second MERC case reported in Phillippines
The Philippines has confirmed the second case of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) corona virus.
The Department of Health (DOH) announced on Monday that a 36-year-old male foreigner who arrived in the Philippines from the Middle East tested positive for the virus and is now under quarantine.
The foreign patient showed symptoms after arriving in Manila from Dubai. He had also stayed in Saudi Arabia before flying to Manila.
Health Ministry spokesman Lyndon Lee-suy said that the man was admitted to a government hospital on July 4 and was under observation, adding that the DOH is monitoring eight people who had close contact with the patient to prevent the spread of the disease.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Janet Garin said there is no need to panic as there has been no known transmission to the community.
Those who are at risk of contracting the virus are hospital workers and household members with close and repeated contact with the patient, Garin added.
The Philippines reported the first case, which was a Filipino nurse working in Saudi Arabia, in January. The woman survived the disease.
MERS has killed 33 people in South Korea, where 186 cases have been confirmed, according to the World Health Organization. The MERS outbreak in South Korea is the biggest outside the Middle East region.
MERS was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The disease is part of the corona virus family of viruses, which includes the common cold and SARS. It can cause symptoms including fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.
There is no known cure or vaccine for the disease yet.
About 36 percent of reported patients have died, according to the World Health Organization.
AR/NN/HRB
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