Health Ministry denies viral message on Umrah pilgrim with MERS-CoV

KUALA LUMPUR: A message which went viral on the social media on a Umrah pilgrim being t r eat e d for Midd le East respiratory syndrome corona virus ( MERS- CoV) infection is not true, said Health Director- General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said a laboratory test conducted on a sample belonging to the male patient tested negative for the disease.

“This irresponsible act of transmitting fake news has raised concerns among the public and is extremely regrettable,” he said in a statement here yesterday.

The message was viral led on Twitter over the last three days after a woman, believed to be a family member of the patient, uploaded a status regarding the man who allegedly fainted upon arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport ( KLIA) upon his return from performing the Umrah.

Dr Noor Hisham said the Health Ministry was constantly monitoring the MERS- CoV infection which was reported by the World Health Organisation ( WHO) with the Health Ministry issuing health advisory for pilgrims to take preventive measures against the disease during their stay in the Holy Land and after returning to Malaysia.

“From continuous monitoring since 2012, more than 3,000 people were found to have symptoms of having MERS- CoV symptoms. However, the results of the MERS- CoV test conducted on them were all negative, except for a case reported in April 2014 involving a man, in his 50s, who had just returned home from performing the umrah,” he said. — Bernama