Qatari tests positive for MERS virus
A 73-year-old Qatari citizen has tested positive for the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) virus, public health authorities announced yesterday.
Hamad Medical Corporation's (HMC) reference laboratories have confirmed that the man is suffering from the respiratory infection.
This is the fourth case of MERS-CoV (coronavirus) to be confirmed in the country this year, the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) said in a statement.
The third case, which involved an expatriate camel farm worker, was confirmed recently, taking the total number of MERS cases in Qatar to 14 so far.
The last case in which a Qatari national was involved was reported in March. He was 69 years old.
After the latest case was confirmed, a rapid response team from the Health Protection and Communicable Diseases Control Department at the SCH prepared a list of all those who could have come in contact with the patient, as per the World Health Organization's guidelines, the SCH said.
All the traced contacts will be monitored over the next two weeks, and those who develop respiratory symptoms will be screened.
In the meantime, a joint team from the SCH and the Animal Resources Department at the Ministry of Environment is carrying out a field investigation.
The SCH said that people with any questions or symptoms related to MERS can contact hotlines 66740948 or 66740951. [The Peninsula]
Photo for illustration only.
And the alleged MERS case on the picture doesn't look like he is 73 from his ungreyed eyebrows and wrinkleless forehead.
If only they read the article from top to bottom, you will see there that the photo attached to the article is only an illustration and not the actual victim of MERS....
Don't panic everyone, the photo above the article doesn't seem to be related to the article at all.
Do you seriously think a patient with whatever dangerous virus as described in the article would be allowed to walk out of the hospital with a mere surgery mask, not a care in the world, to pause before psychic reporters who knew exactly when the affected patient was going to leave the hospital and arrived at exactly the right time to grab this close-up picture?
Agree with Habagat2012.
totally accept with you @habagat2012
(1) There should be NO PHOTO of the patient (or even a mere suspected patient), as dictated by professional medical and journalist ethics. Even personal info like age and nationality should not be posted to safeguard the privacy of the patient and his family.
(2) The photo above this article shows how NOT to handle any patient suffering from MERS-CoV or any serious infectious disease for that matter. The image is quite misleading and apparently does not show the actual patient.