Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

[tetano]

MANILA, Philippines - A Filipino from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who recently returned to the Philippines was tested positive for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Department of Health Secretary Enrique Ona said during a press conference on Wednesday.

The MERS-CoV "carrier" is a male and reportedly a health worker in the UAE, according to Ona.

The DOH chief said that while the Filipino was tested positive for the highly fatal viral respiratory illness, he "remains asymptomatic."

..

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/84960/fiipino-from-uae-who-recently-returned-to-ph-a-mers-cov-carrier---doh

[sharon sanders]

Still nothing on the Philippine MoH site but a 2nd news source for the news conference:


Pinoy nurse tests positive for MERS virus, first case in PHL
April 16, 2014 4:43pm
2242 169 1 2434
A Filipino nurse has tested positive for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, the first reported case inside the country, Health Secretary Enrique Ona announced Wednesday.

The patient has been quarantined along with nine members of his household who were exposed to the virus, Ona told a news conference.

more...

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/357189/news/nation/pinoy-nurse-tests-positive-for-mers-virus-first-case-in-phl

[Shiloh]

Re: Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/594740/...-cov-doh-chief


OFW who returned home from UAE tests positive for MERS-CoV ? DOH chief
By Bong Lozada
INQUIRER.net
5:44 pm | Wednesday, April 16th, 2014

...Health Secretary Enrique Ona said Wednesday the OFW, who is a nurse, had contact with the victim who died in UAE.

The male health worker is now on quarantine.

In a television interview, Ona said that four members of the OFW?s family who fetched him at the Ninoy Aquino International Aquino were also quarantined.

He clarified that so far the four have not yet experienced the symptoms of the virus, which include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and diarrhea...

[Shiloh]

Re: Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

Source: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/8...-carrier---doh


..."Positive s'ya sa test but he is not sick of it. You can be positive but you are not sick...asymptomatic, walang sintoma," Ona said, adding that the Philippine government was informed about the results of the blood test by the UAE government.

The Filipino voluntarily reported his condition to Philippine authorities and is now in isolation with his family, who are also asymptomatic, according to Ona.

The DOH chief said 12 other people who were with the infected Filipino on the plane going to the Philippines had already been traced and identified. "Identified na 'yong malapit sa upuan n'ya, sa harap, sa likod, at kanyang tabi. Another 12 persons ang hinanap at na-identify na at binigyan na sila ng information."...

[Shiloh]

Re: Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

Source: http://www.inquirer.net/philippine-e...rticles/594826

DOH issues official statement on confirmed case of MERS-CoV
Philippine Daily Inquirer
8:15 pm | Wednesday, April 16th, 2014

MANILA, Philippines—Following is the official statement issued by the Department of Health on the Filipino carrier of the the Corona virus:

“An OFW who had contact with the OFW who died of MERS-CoV in United Arab Emirates arrived in the country yesterday (Tuesday). He tested positive on the nose swab examination in UAE but completely no symptoms. The Embassy of the Philippines in UAE informed DOH and DFA immediately of the results. Upon arrival in the airport, DOH and Bureau of Quarantine put him in isolation with his family and everyone who has had contact with him within the past 24 hours...

******************

Source: https://www.facebook.com/DOHgovph

Department of Health (Philippines)
2 hours ago
OFFICIAL DOH STATEMENT: An OFW who had contact with the OFW who died of MERS-CoV in United Arab Emirates arrived in the country yesterday. He tested positive on the nose swab examination in UAE but completely no symptoms. The Embassy of the Philippines in UAE informed DOH and DFA immediately of the results. Upon arrival in the airport, DOH and Bureau of Quarantine put him in isolation with his family and everyone who has had contact with him within the past 24 hours. We also re-tested him and the result will come out in Friday. We are also performing an intensive contact tracing and public information. Our 2 specialists to UAE are set to leave anytime soon. Sec Ona

[Shiloh]

Re: Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-n...ers-cov-338768

DOH: Returning OFW no longer positive for MERS-CoV
Friday, April 18, 2014

MANILA - The overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who was placed under quarantine upon his return to the country for previously testing positive for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the United Arab Emirates is now negative for the virus, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.

According to the DOH, the male health worker tested negative 11 days after being exposed to the virus in a hospital in UAE...

[Giuseppe]

Re: Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

[Source: Channel News Asia, full page: (LINK).]


Philippines boosts MERS monitoring after UAE nurse scare

The Philippines said Saturday it was stepping up its defences against the deadly MERS virus, with the large numbers of Filipino workers in the Middle East seen as potential carriers.

(?)


-
------

[Shiloh]

Re: Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...googlenews_wsj


April 19, 2014, 5:19 a.m. ET
Second MERS Test on Filipino Nurse Comes Back Negative -- Update
By Cris Larano

MANILA--A second test on a Filipino man who initially tested positive for the MERS virus came back negative, Philippine health officials said Saturday as concern over the spread of the deadly disease deepens...

[Shiloh]

Re: Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

Source: http://www.philstar.com/region/2014/...der-quarantine

For MERS-CoV test in Negros Or.: OFW from Lebanon put under quarantine
By Judy Flores Partlow (The Freeman) | Updated April 20, 2014 - 12:00am

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines ? A female overseas Filipino worker from Lebanon is now put on quarantine at a government hospital in this city for observation and testing of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome corona virus (MERS-CoV).

DOH-Negros Oriental head Socrates Villamor disclosed that the OFW, who hails from Bayawan City in the southern part of the province, arrived in Dumaguete City on Friday from Manila.

Villamor said the woman, whose identity health authorities have kept under wraps to avoid unnecessary public attention, was on the same flight as that of an OFW from the United Arab Emirates who arrived in the Philippines last Wednesday and was suspected of having MERS-CoV...

[Shiloh]

Re: Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/iloilo/loc...s-watch-338902

18 Ilonggos in Mers-Cov virus watch
By Florence F. Hibionada

Sunday, April 20, 2014

HEALTH officials in Iloilo City are keeping watch of 18 Ilonggos who flew in last Tuesday with an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) exposed to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (Mers-Cov).

All travelers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on board Etihad Flight EY 0424 are being tracked, confirmed Dr. Glenn Alonsabe of the Department of Health (DOH) Regional Office 6 (Western Visayas).

In a phone interview, Alonsabe stressed though that the 18 "are confirmed passengers only" and should not be tagged or feared to be Mers-Cov positive. The 18 passengers, along with the other passengers, were called in for laboratory tests.

The call came as the country marked its "index patient" of Mers-Cov in the Filipino nurse who went home for the Lenten break...

[Shiloh]

Re: Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/batangas-...s-cases/90705/




FOLLOW US:
Batangas monitors 3 suspected MERS cases
April 20, 2014 11:21 pm

by Tina Ganzon

BATANGAS CITY, Batangas: Three patients confined at the Batangas Medical Center or BMC (formerly Batangas Regional Hospital) are now under observation for possible cases of MERS coronavirus.

According to Dr. Ramoncito Magnaye, medical director of BMC, the three patients have been isolated and are undergoing laboratory tests.

?Hindi pa naman sigurado [We are not yet sure]. We are treating them symptomatically for flu, cough and other symptoms they might have,? Magnaye said.

He refused to divulge the names of the three patients to the media, citing patient-doctor confidentiality...

...The patients belong to the 400 passengers on board Etihad Airways...

...A source from the BMC said they are expecting two more patients to be admitted for laboratory testing.

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

QC woman who flew in from Middle East tests negative for MERS-CoV

By Julie M. Aurelio

Read more: Philippine Daily Inquirer

9:25 pm | Monday, April 21st, 2014


MANILA, Philippines — A Quezon City resident and passenger of the Etihad Airways flight EY 0424, which arrived last week from the Middle East, was negative of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus.

The female overseas Filipino worker, who arrived last April 15, was cleared of the MERS-CoV on Sunday morning by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine under the Department of Health.

Supt. Ramon Pranada, the Cubao police station commander, said the passenger was a resident of the Cubao area.

Four relatives with whom the woman interacted since arriving in the country tested negative for the illness.

“The woman is okay. She was given assistance and underwent a medical check-up last Friday. The RITM cleared her last Sunday,” Pranada said.
The official added that the passenger’s housemates also tested negative for the MERS-CoV.

[Giuseppe]

Re: Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

If these results will be independently validated, it may represent an help in understanding the epidemiological role of asymptomatic cases...

[tetano]

Re: Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

MERS-CoV scare: Search for 174 passengers intensified

Health authorities have opened a Facebook account, bought newspaper ad space for the names of 174 out of the 415 passengers of a flight from the Middle East who had yet to submit themselves as of Monday to nose-and-throat swab test for a deadly virus and enlisted the help of the police in tracing them.

President Benigno Aquino III would have wanted that all the copassengers of a male Filipino nurse, who initially tested positive for the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV), be contacted by the Department of Health (DOH) by Tuesday.

At a press briefing, Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, DOH Emerging Infectious Diseases program manager, on Tuesday said that Mr. Aquino had strongly recommended that the agency?s contact-tracing efforts for all the passengers of Etihad Airways Flight No. EY 0424 should have been completed a week after they had arrived in the country.

The male nurse, who arrived in Manila from the United Arab Emirates on April 15, was initially diagnosed with MERS-CoV while he was still at the UAE. But the two tests conducted on him by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa City yielded negative results.

The nurse came into contact with a Filipino paramedic who died of MERS-CoV in the UAE.

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/596620/...#ixzz2zdmhu9ZC
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

[Giuseppe]

Re: Philippines - Media: 1st coronavirus Mers case announced by MoH - ex-UAE - April 16, 2014

It was repeatedly suggested that for a conclusive diagnosis physicians have to collecte lower respiratory tract samples, because they are much more reliable. If the B.A.L. is considered too traumatic or difficult to perform due to poor patient compliance or lack of technical skill, it may be possible to use 'induced sputum' as per TB diagnosis.

See also: World Health Organization, Weekly Epidemiological Record, http://www.who.int/entity/wer/2014/wer8916.pdf?ua=1