DOH, PRO-7 look for 14 passengers from UAE

CEBU, Philippines - Officials of the Police Regional Office-7 and Department of Health-7 had an emergency meeting on Good Friday after receiving reports that 14 out of over 400 passengers on the flight carrying an overseas Filipino worker diagnosed with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome – Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) are from Central Visayas.

In a text message, Superintendent Renato Dugan, Regional Public Information Officer, confirmed that both the PRO-7 and DOH-7 had a joint conference to discuss the matter.

The Etihad Flight EY 0424 arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on April 15 and had a Filipino nurse passenger earlier diagnosed with MERS-CoV. 

Yesterday though, DOH officials announced that tests of the OFW reportedly with MERS-CoV came out negative.

In Friday’s meeting, Dugan said that PRO-7 had instructed all its personnel to assist DOH-7 in locating the 14 passengers.

In a separate interview, Health Emergency Management Staff chief  Dr. Expedito Medalle said four passengers of the flight already tested negative for MERS-CoV.

  Apart from Cebu, authorities are also tracing those from the provinces of  Negros Oriental and Bohol who were in the same flight.

 The national office of DOH has designated Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center as the testing hospital for the respiratory virus disease especially of the passengers of the Etihad Airlines flight EY 0424.

 â€œTask Force MCV will continue to trace and contact the other passengers of EY 0424. Those contacted will be fetched by the Regional Epidemiology Service Unit and brought to the nearest DOH or District Hospital. Specimens from tested passengers are then sent by courier to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa City and in Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City,” DOH secretary Enrique Ona said in a press statement.

 VSMMC assured readiness as the Philippines and the region is proactively acting on the entry of a respiratory coronavirus that started in Middle East.

 The Office of Special Concerns of VSMMC stressed that it has been on Code White in view of the observance of the Holy Week.

 â€œOur training and experience started during the time of SARS virus in 2003-2004, H1N1 in 2009 and now, MCV. Our office is called HEMS (Health Emergency Management Staff) under Dr. Joseph Alesna who is our chief of the Office of Special Concerns,” OSC staff member Nonoy Mongaya said.

Also, the hospital has been on Code White since April 16 in response to the observance of the Holy Week.

 â€œVSMMC is on Code White alert since April 16 in response to the Lenten season. VSMMC is one of the sentinel health facility of the DOH to respond to any types of emergency situations. With MERS-CoronaVirus(MCV), DOH media protocol is handled by DOH-7 RESU as they are the office tasked to do epidemiological surveillance,” Mongaya said.

 DOH has created Task Force MERS-CoV composed of multi-agencies to help prevent spread while reiterating that there has been no epidemic or outbreak of this viral disease either in Middle East or the Arabian Peninsula.

The DOH calls for the attention of the passengers of the Etihad Flight EY 0424 to call them on their hotlines; 711-1001; 711-1002; 0922-884-1564; 0920-949-8419; 0915-772-5621.

The purpose of which is to rule out the possibility that they may have been similarly exposed to the disease.

 According to World Health Organization (WHO) MERS-CoV Summary and literature update as of March 27, 2014 since its discovery in April 2012, a total of 206 laboratory confirmed cases of human infection cases where 86 died has been reported to them.

 Symptoms of MERS-CoV include fever, cough, difficulty in breathing and diarrhea.

 A recent study of WHO traced the viral disease’s roots to camels from the Middle East.  (FREEMAN)