Thai health officials prepare to cope with MERS-CoV

BANGKOK, May 15 (TNA) - Thai Public Health Ministry officials are preparing to cope with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), urging Thai Hajj pilgrims to take good care of their health. Dr. Narong Sahametapat, Permanent Secretary for Public Health, told journalists on Thursday that local health officials are conducting exercises to handle MERS-CoV. Dr. Narong said that his ministry's officials are being trained, at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute on the outskirts of Bangkok, on the detection of initially-infected MERS-CoV victims, swift patient referrals and infection prevention at hospitals. Dr. Narong explained that MERS-CoV has been mainly transmitted from the Middle East and, although no patients were reported in Thailand, local people remain at risk of contracting the fatal disease, especially Thai Muslim Hajj pilgrims. As about 14,000 Thai Muslim Hajj pilgrims are returning to Thailand from Saudi Arabia, the senior Thai official warned visitors to and from the Middle East to take good care of their health and not to tour any camel farm or place where there are camels during their trips to the Middle East, as camels are carriers of MERS-CoV. According to the senior Thai health official, people being at risk of MERS-CoV include those suffering from diabetes, lung and renal illnesses, as well as low immunity. The senior Thai health official revealed that his ministry has ordered all hospitals throughout the country to watch out for the fatal virus, along with human influenza and the bird flu. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported, meanwhile, that there have been 495 MERS-CoV patients in 17 countries and 141 of them have died, the mortality rate of which has stood at 28.48 per cent, with 288 found in last month alone. (TNA)