Thailand on alert against MERS-CoV, flu

BANGKOK, April 30 (TNA) - Thailand, through the Ministry of Public Health, remains high alert against the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and influenza, with public health chiefs in 53 provinces ordered to watch out against the fatal viral strains. Deputy Permanent Secretary for Public Health Dr. Wachira Pengjuntr made the instruction at a video conference on Wednesday due to concerns over MERS-CoV and influenza. Dr. Wachira told the tele-conference that flu outbreaks are likelier because the rainy season has begun in Thailand, predicting that there could be 120,000 flu patients in the country this year, the same number as 2010, and 120 of them could pass away. Dr. Wachira assessed that influenza virus B could spread in Thailand this year, as the number of its patients has been on the rise, standing at 30,000 so far and 53 of them having died. Dr. Wachira stressed that authorities must watch out for MERS-CoV although it has not spread in Thailand, with most infected people returning from the Middle East, where Muslims make annual pilgrimages. Dr. Wachira, therefore, ordered health officials to monitor people returning from the Middle East for 14 days and to report to the Ministry of Public Health if they fall sick, while assigning his ministry's Department of Disease Control to ask tour agents organizing pilgrimage trips to help watch out for, probably, MERS-CoV patients as well. There are infected people in Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, while in Thailand, local authorities have conducted close surveillance since April 20 and have not found any MERS-CoV case so far. MERS-CoV patients have fever and other symptoms like pneumonia cases. Although MERS-CoV is less infectious than influenza, it shows higher mortality and official reports have confirmed that it can be transmitted from camels. (TNA)