OFW from UAE tests negative for MERS virus

MANILA, Philippines - The vacationing Filipino nurse who was reported to have contracted the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) turned out to be negative for the infection when tested twice by the Department of Health (DOH), officials said yesterday.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona said the patient was first tested by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) upon arriving via Etihad Airlines flight EY 0424 on April 15 but he was found negative for the virus. He was re-tested with the same results.

“We took nose and throat swab samples from him but he tested negative on two occasions. It is possible that when he was first tested (in United Arab Emirates) he was carrying the virus but when we tested him, the virus was gone. It is possible that he overcame the virus,” Ona said.

The patient was exposed to MERS-CoV on April 6 when he visited a Filipino paramedic, a co-worker, who was infected by the virus. The paramedic died two days later.

On April 14, the patient took the flight to Manila with his wife, two children and a house helper. The plane was still en route when UAE health authorities notified the Philippine government that his tests yielded positive results.

Philippine health authorities intercepted the patient at the airport. He and his family were quarantined along with a welcoming party of five, who were also found free from the virus. The patient has been discharged.

“This means there is no MERS-coronavirus here in the Philippines. We are still free from the virus,” Ona said.

Contact tracing

But Ona said even if the patient is already negative, “contact tracing” continues for other passengers of flight EY 0424. They still have to undergo testing because they were exposed to the patient during the flight when he was still “deemed a positive carrier of MERS-CoV.”

Ona also said that the DOH would be shouldering the cost of testing and quarantine, if needed, for all passengers who would come forward.

The DOH has tracked down 119 of the 415 passengers and crew of flight EY 0424. Of those contacted, 72 have been tested and 40 of them yielded negative results, according to DOH program manager for Emerging and Re-Emerging Diseases Lyndon Lee Suy.

The samples taken from the 32 other passengers were still being processed by the RITM and it usually takes nine to 10 days to do this.

“All those who traveled with our index passenger are still deemed to be at risk, especially if we consider further that they all came from the Middle East, a high-risk area, and that the incubation period is up to 14 days. Hence, to rule out any possibility of infection, we strongly urge all of other passengers of EY 0424 to immediately submit themselves to testing,” Ona said.

“We are also calling the attention of Filipinos who have returned recently from the Middle East to report to the nearest hospital if they experience symptoms which are similar to the indications of flu, including fever with cough, cold or sneezing,” he added.

Stepping up defenses

Suy said there is currently no epidemic of the MERS-CoV, and the World Health Organization has not issued any restrictions on traveling to or from the Middle East, where more than one million Filipinos work.

But the Philippine government said yesterday it is already stepping up its defenses against the virus, with the large number of Filipino workers in the Middle East seen as potential carriers.

The Philippine embassy in Abu Dhabi has dispatched a team to Al Ain to check on the condition of Filipinos, particularly those who were reportedly infected by MERS-CoV.

Of the six reported cases, the embassy has confirmed that one Filipino worker died on April 10 due to MERS-CoV, while the other five remain in quarantine as a precaution. The team was also able to confirm that the five Filipinos are recovering.

Relatives of the Filipino fatality have been notified and are being assisted.

Human cases of MERS-CoV have also been reported in other Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and Oman.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has advised Filipinos in the Middle East to take necessary precautions and to follow the advice of health authorities in their host countries to prevent infection. – With Pia Lee Brago, AP