Saudi Arabia Sars-like virus 'kills five'

[Monseratto]

Ingat lang sa mga OFWs dun...

BBC News - Saudi Arabia Sars-like virus 'kills five'

Five people in Saudi Arabia have died from a Sars-like virus and two more are seriously ill, officials say.

The seven cases were all from al-Ahsa governorate in the east of the country, the Saudi news agency SPA said citing health officials.

The novel coronavirus (NCoV) causes pneumonia and sometimes kidney failure.

It is from the same family of viruses as the one that caused an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) that emerged in Asia in 2003.

WHO notification
In the statement released by SPA, the Saudi health ministry said it was taking "all precautionary measures for persons who have been in contact with the infected people... and has taken samples from them to examine if they are infected".

However, the ministry gave no details on how many people had been tested for the disease.

In a statement, the World Health Organization said the cases were not from the same family and preliminary inquiries showed "no indication of recent travel or animal contact" in any of the confirmed cases.

[jrn29]

saan daw kaya sa saudi to ??

[jaypee10]

delikado nanaman mga kababayan natin dyan..

baka maka pasok din dito sa atin..

[Monseratto]

Anyone watched the movie "Contagion"...?

SARS-Like Virus Kills 2 More in Saudi Arabia - WSJ.com

Updated May 6, 2013, 3:42 a.m. ET
SARS-Like Virus Kills 2 More in Saudi Arabia

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER in Riyadh And BETSY MCKAY in Atlanta

RIYADH—Saudi Arabia announced two more deaths overnight Monday in the latest outbreak of a SARS-like virus currently centered on a small hospital in the kingdom's east, bringing the toll reported by the government at the health center since Wednesday to seven dead and another six who have fallen ill.

The latest deaths, a 62-year-old woman and a 71-year-old man, heightened worries in Saudi Arabia and abroad that the outbreak of an apparently Middle East-based disease known as the novel coronavirus could be escalating.

The surge of fatalities brings confirmed deaths in the yearold outbreak to 18 and overall cases to 30. It has heightened concern from ordinary Saudis and international medical officials that the kingdom is not disclosing enough information on the outbreak to help limit and stop the spread. Most of the cases reported have been in Saudi Arabia.

The 13 cases linked to one Saudi hospital suggest the spread of this coronavirus may have reached a dangerous new stage in which it is spreading from one human to another, rather than infecting humans from another source such as an infected animal, according to infectious disease experts.

The virus has spread quickly: 13 people were infected between April 14 and May 1, nearly half of the 30 total cases that have been reported to the World Health Organization. Of those 30 cases, 18 have died, giving the disease a case fatality rate similar to that of the feared H5N1 avian flu.

Saudi Deputy Health Minister Ziad Memish announced the two new deaths, and another case of a patient in critical condition with coronavirus, in an email published late Sunday on the international Promed medical website.

"Transmission seems linked to one (health-care facility)" in the city of Hofuf, in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, Dr. Memish said in the brief email. It stated that no community transmission appeared likely in the latest outbreak, but did not clarify or elaborate further on the cases.

At the health ministry, staffers said neither Dr. Memish nor other health officials would be available to speak Monday about the outbreak.

According to the World Health Organization, the coronavirus—which is related to the SARS virus that struck Asia a decade ago—first appeared in a "health-care setting" in April 2012 in Jordan, where it killed two people. More cases since have been confirmed in Saudi Arabia, Britain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

[chua_riwap]

malamang kumalat yan.
langya, mga saudis pa naman dugyot sa katawan.

tamad maligo!

[Monseratto]

50 deaths later and the first confirmed OFW victim...

A Pinay nurse in Saudi Arabia died of corona virus, the first Filipino who died of the illness - DFA

[Retz]

ingat kayo dyan mga sadiq.

[Monseratto]

Kawawa, bigla lang namatay, at di na informed yung love ones when she was seriouly ill...

DFA confirms first Pinoy coronavirus death in Saudi | Pinoy Abroad | GMA News Online

DFA confirms first Pinoy coronavirus death in Saudi
By MICHAELA DEL CALLARSeptember 17, 2013 5:48pm


A 41-year-old female Filipino nurse died of MERS coronavirus in Saudi Arabia last month, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday.

The Filipino, whose identity was not disclosed, is the first reported fatality from the Philippines. She died at a hospital in Riyadh last August 29.

A medical report obtained by the Philippine Embassy says the deceased “tested positive for the coronavirus before her death,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez told a press briefing.

The hospital’s VIP ward supervisor said prior to her death, the Filipina went to the United States for a vacation on July 13. She returned to Riyadh on July 19 and reported for work on July 21.

In mid-August, she complained of fever and coughing and developed respiratory distress. She was put on a ventilator on Aug. 22.

Two days later, she was diagnosed with severe pneumonia and had to be transferred to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.

“The hospital’s Deputy Director of Medical Administration said that the remains of the deceased overseas Filipino worker does not pose a public risk for as long as it is placed inside an impermeable body bag,” Hernandez said.

“Her family has already been informed of her demise and we are awaiting the Department of Health’s guidance regarding the repatriation of her remains,” he added.

Hernandez said another Filipina is currently confined at the same hospital after testing positive for Coronavirus. “She is now recovering,” he said.

The patient was brought by her employer to the hospital for dialysis and was infected during her confinement, Hernandez said.

Filipinos in affected countries are advised to follow the measures being taken by local health authorities to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.

“They should also immediately seek medical attention if they feel any of the disease’s symptoms,” Hernandez said.

Symptoms of coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization, include fever, cough, shortness of breath and even diarrhea.

Saudi Arabia, home to at least 1 million Filipino workers, has been most affected by the virus, which is fast spreading throughout the Middle East and has spilled over to some countries in Europe like Germany, Britain and France. — KBK, GMA News

[Monseratto]

Saudi Arabia announces jump in new cases of deadly MERS virus | News | GMA News Online

Saudi Arabia announces jump in new cases of deadly MERS virus
By ANGUS MCDOWALL, ReutersApril 21, 2014 12:49am

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia confirmed 20 new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) on Saturday and Sunday, adding up to 49 infections in six days, a sudden increase of a disease that kills about a third of the people infected and has no cure.

MERS, a SARS-like novel coronavirus that emerged in Saudi Arabia two years ago, has infected 244 people in the kingdom, of whom 76 have died, the Health Ministry said on its website.

However, Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabia on Sunday told reporters there was no scientific evidence yet to justify ordering additional preventative measures such as travel restrictions.

He said he did not know why there had been a surge of cases in Jeddah but said it might be part of a seasonal pattern since there was also a big rise in infections last April and May.

Another cluster of cases has been detected in the United Arab Emirates and a Malaysian who was recently in the Gulf has been confirmed as infected, his country said.

MERS has no vaccine or anti-viral treatment, but international and Saudi health authorities say the disease, which originated in camels, does not transmit easily between people and may simply die out.

Health experts have warned, however, that MERS has the potential to mutate eventually.

The number of officially confirmed Saudi cases has jumped suddenly over the past two weeks.

Saudi authorities last week issued several statements aimed at reassuring the public that there was no immediate cause for concern at the latest outbreak and that it had not met international definitions of an epidemic.

Rabia said the ministry had invited five European and North American companies to work with it in developing a vaccine and that some of the companies would soon visit the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, is expected to receive a surge of pilgrims in July during the faith's annual fasting month of Ramadan, followed by millions more in early October for the Haj.

New infections

Last week Malaysian health authorities said a Malaysian citizen had been confirmed as having the disease after he returned from pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Rumours of unreported cases have circulated on Saudi social media feeds in recent weeks. Last week, the kingdom's cabinet asked Saudi news organisations to report only those cases that are officially confirmed by the Health Ministry.

Most of the new infections are in Saudi Arabia's port city of Jeddah, where 37 people have been infected since Monday, seven of them fatally. Another 10 new cases, one of them fatal so far, were discovered in the capital Riyadh. There were also new cases confirmed in Najran Province and the city of Medina.

Last week, another cluster of cases was discovered in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, and Yemen reported its first case.

Separately, the UAE state news agency WAM said late on Saturday that it had recorded 12 new cases of coronavirus infections that were discovered during "routine checks" on people who had come into contact with infected individuals.

WAM quoted the health authority as saying that the patients were being kept in hospital and "did not pose a danger to the public or to patients". It expected the patients to be rid of the MERS virus within 10 to 14 days. — Reuters

[Monseratto]

PNP may use ?reasonable force? against Etihad passengers refusing medical test | Inquirer News

PNP may use ‘reasonable force’ against Etihad Airlines passengers refusing medical test
By Julliane Love De Jesus
INQUIRER.net
3:44 pm | Monday, April 21st, 2014

MANILA, Philippines—If one of the passengers of Etihad Airlines flight EY0424 refuses to be examined for possible infection of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV), the police could use “reasonable force.”

The Philippine National Police (PNP) maintained on Monday that it holds an inherent police power to compel a person to yield to them for the safety of the general public.

“We will have to bodily carry them (if they resist) as a last resort but we have not reached that point yet,” Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP Public Information Chief, said in a press briefing.

Sindac said the‎ PNP can use the special power as it is provided in Republic Act 9271 or the Quarantine Law of 2004. ‎

On orders of President Benigno Aquino III and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, the PNP has been directed to “assist and support” the Department of Health (DOH) in locating the passengers with risks of carrying MERS-CoV.

But as of Monday, the DOH said 113 out of the 414 passengers were tested negative.

“We could compel civilians in line of general public safety. If the people are at risk, the police can enforce persuasive measures,”‎ he said.

Sindac said the police would persuade the passengers ‎to cooperate for their own good.
‎
Once the police locate one of the infected persons, Sindac said the PNP will immediately secure the area and relay the person’s location to DOH.

[Red Advent 04]

lumalaganap nadin ang epidemya sa bansa nila..

[Monseratto]

Meron din MERS carrier dito sa pinas. Tigas ng ulo kasi.. Galing sa close contact with camels or drinking camel's milk...

MERS outbreaks grow; Malaysian case had camel link | CIDRAP

Outbreaks of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infections expanded further today with reports of seven more cases in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and three in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that Malaysia's first MERS patient had drunk camel milk when he visited Saudi Arabia.

In the UAE, the WHO today reported four cases in HCWs, but one of them apparently is that of the Filipino whose infection was reported by the media yesterday, after he flew home to the Philippines. Only one of the patients is sick, the agency reported.

The fourth patient is a 34-year-old man from the Philippines who lives in Abu Dhabi and is healthy, the agency said. Apparently referring to him, the statement adds that one patient "returned to his home country although he was advised not to before the laboratory results were received."

Media reports yesterday said the test results were released after the man, a nurse, arrived home in the Philippines. Officials said then that the man and nine of his close contacts were in quarantine, and airline passengers who sat near him were being traced.

Today's WHO statement also adds information on the case reported yesterday in a Malaysian man who died of MERS-CoV after a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. His case and that of the Filipino are the first MERS cases reported in the Far East.

The Malaysian man, 54, traveled to Saudi Arabia with a group of 18 pilgrims and was away from Mar 15 to 28. While visiting a camel farm on Mar 26, he drank camel milk, the WHO said. The man fell ill after returning home and died on Apr 13.

Studies have suggested that MERS-CoV is fairly common in camels in Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries, and one or two human MERS patients were found to have had contact with infected camels. Thus camels are strongly suspected to be a source of MERS-CoV in humans, but the precise transmission route is unknown.

[Monseratto]

May lookout alert...ingat.

Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines
Like This Page · 4 hrs

LIST: The 43 passengers of Etihad Airlines EY0424 who cannot be contacted by the Department of Health (Philippines) as of 12pm today.

These passengers, who arrived at NAIA from Abu Dhabi last April 15, 2014, are enjoined to coordinate and cooperate with the DOH to undergo testing and thus prevent the spread of MERS-CoV. Go to the DOH nearest hospital or call DOH hotlines: 711-1001; 711-1002; 0922-884-1564; 0920-949-8419; 09157725621.

[Monseratto]

Asia SARs death toll 10 years ago was 299 deaths in HK alone...

Saudi MERS deaths top 100, fuelling public fear

Saudi MERS deaths top 100, fuelling public fear
By: Agence France-Presse
April 28, 2014 4:00 AM


JEDDAH - The MERS death toll in Saudi Arabia topped 100 on Sunday as the authorities scrambled to reassure an increasingly edgy population in the country worst-hit by the infectious coronavirus.
Public fears have been fuelled by a rapid rise in the number of fatalities from the respiratory infection, with 39 people dying this month -- well over a third of the 102 deaths registered since the virus emerged in April 2012.

A nine-month-old infant was among eight new deaths from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome announced by the health ministry on Sunday.

It said the total number of cases diagnosed since the virus was first recorded in the kingdom has reached 339, representing the bulk of infections registered worldwide.

Among them were four medical staff at a single hospital in Tabuk in the northwest, two doctors -- one Egyptian and one Syrian -- and two Philippine nurses.

Panic over the spread of the virus among medical staff in the western city of Jeddah led to the temporary closure of a main hospital's emergency room.

At least four doctors at Jeddah's King Fahd Hospital resigned earlier this month after refusing to treat MERS patients for fear of infection.

Experts are still struggling to understand MERS, for which there is no known vaccine.

It is considered a deadlier but less-transmissible cousin of the SARS virus which erupted in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, nine percent of whom died.

Riyadh dismissed the health minister earlier this month without saying why, and Labour Minister Adel Fakieh, appointed acting health minister, promised "transparency" over MERS.

Ailing King Abdullah himself travelled to Jeddah on Thursday to reassure the public and demonstrate that "exaggerated and false rumours" about MERS are false, said his son, National Guard Minister Prince Mitab.

Fakieh said on Saturday that three specialised medical centres have been set up in Jeddah, Riyadh and Eastern Province.

Shortage of face masks

But people are still not taking any chances.

"I've decided to keep my six-year-old daughter at home and not send her to school," said Umm Muntaha. "Prevention is better than cure."

Schools remain open despite rumours of possible closures, but many have asked parents to equip their children with face masks and disinfectants.

Pharmaceutical sources have already spoken of a shortage of masks in Jeddah because of rising demand.

"Demand for masks has grown 10 times during the past two weeks," said one pharmacist in Jeddah, who has now run out of stock.

The health ministry has not taken any "additional measures" at airports apart from the "usual preventive measures", a ministry official said.

MERS infections are rising steadily just months ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage to the Muslim sacred sites in Mecca and Medina, which this year comes in September.

Pilgrims continue to visit Mecca for the lesser umra pilgrimage, which can be performed at any time.

The hajj ministry has not yet taken any special MERS-related measures.

"We have not distributed masks and not taken any preventive measures," ministry undersecretary Abdullah Marghalani said.

"We have not received any instructions about the virus and how to immunise umra pilgrims against it."

MERS has not had any impact on the numbers of pilgrims, Marghalani told Al-Eqtisadiah daily, adding that some 3.8 million pilgrims have visited the country this year.

[Monseratto]

Another OFW...

Bandila
1 hr ·

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – A 45-year-old Filipina nurse from Negros Occidental died of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) at the King Fahd Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

The information came from her husband whose name is being withheld.

The husband said the director of King Fahd Medical City informed him through a phone call that his wife died at 11:50 a.m. Saudi time (5:50 p.m. Philippine time).

The deceased was an emergency room nurse at the King Fahd Medical City, one of the most modern hospitals in Riyadh.

The husband said his wife succumbed to renal failure with very low blood pressure, symptoms of MERS-CoV.

She underwent dialysis a day before she died and had a bypass operation, he added.

The husband said he and his 13-year-old daughter will not go to Saudi Arabia to avoid possible contamination of the virus.

He had already given authorization to a friend of his wife, another Filipina nurse at the same hospital, to process all the claims,
including her body’s return to Negros, he added.

The husband said he had made a formal request through email on advice of the hospital director to have his wife’s body frozen for two months and flown home.

“Because I was informed by our friend, who is also a nurse in Riyadh, that they don‘t practice cremation or embalming of the dead,” he said.

“I was also informed that MERS-CoV victims are frozen for two months, which is the incubation period and for the virus to subside. I want my wife to be buried here.”

The husband said he last spoke to his wife last April 30 and she informed him that she had pneumonia and was placed in quarantine for MERS-CoV.

After two days, he was informed that his wife had been transferred to the intensive care unit, he added.

The husband said his wife could have been spared of MERS-CoV if she had been able to go home in March this year, but her vacation was re-scheduled to the last week of June because the hospital lacks personnel.

“She was very excited to go home to attend to the graduation of our daughter who got an honor in their class,” he said.

The husband said his wife started working in Saudi Arabia in a different hospital in 2001 and transferred to King Fahd Medical City in 2005.

In February 2013, she went home and returned to Saudi Arabia after more than a month of vacation, he added.

His wife’s jewelry and personal belongings had been disinfected and would be sent home in a package.