Mers fears: Manila detains 3 foreigners

Health officials have vowed to battle the spread of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (Mers-CoV) in the Philippines and other parts of Asia, following the confinement of three infected South Koreans in Manila.

Health Secretary Janette Garin, who met representatives of Manila’s private hospitals on Monday, urged them to promptly report suspected cases to the government.

Garin also asked the foreign affairs department to participate in the monitoring of Filipinos and foreigners coming from countries where the deadly virus has spread.

The health department announced it is monitoring three South Korean nationals who were first confined at the Manila Doctors Hospital (MDH) for symptoms associated with the virus: cough, cold, diarrhoea, fever, and pneumonia. The Koreans were later transferred to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang, Muntinlupa City for further tests.

The suspected foreign cases will remain at the RITM for 14 days — the incubation period for Mers-CoV — until they are cleared, said Dr Dessi Roman, RITM consultant and MDH infectious disease specialist.

“We receive a lot of similar reports each day; it means our system is working,” said health department spokesperson Lyndon Lee Suy, adding private and public hospitals already have safety protocols to contain the virus.

The health department refused to reveal the identities of the three South Korean nationals to protect them from stigma. This will encourage people to voluntarily go to hospitals for tests once they suspect they have the Mers symptoms, Suy said.

Mers-CoV has killed 32 people and infected 181 in South Korea, where the infection was first detected in 2012. The disease is reported to have originated from camels in the Middle East.

In June, Thailand also confirmed that a traveller from the Middle East had the virus.