Naz News, Gappers and FLE's

[sludgehound]

Thailand Confirms first MERS Infection
By Warangkana Chomchuen and Nopparat Chaichalearmmongkol
BANGKOK -- Thailand on Thursday announced its first case of Middle East respiratory syndrome after discovering the deadly virus in a man visiting from Oman .
The Thai Public Health Ministry said in a news briefing Thursday that the 75-year-old man, who arrived from the Middle East on Monday, was diagnosed with the virus after going to a local hospital to seek treatment for his heart conditions and asthma.
Oman is in the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula and adjacent to Saudi Arabia , where the virus was first discovered in 2012.
It is believed to be the first infection in Southeast Asia so far this year, following a death in Malaysia and an infection in the Philippines in 2014. South Korea is reeling from an outbreak that has killed 27 people and infected 165 others since it was first reported five weeks ago.
Dr. Rajata Rajatanavin, Thailand's health minister, said the man is in stable condition. Dr. Rajata said the man is being quarantined along with three family members who arrived with him at the hospital. Two taxi drivers and dozens of medical staff and personnel the man came in contact with have also been quarantined, the minister added.
Passengers seated two rows in front and behind the unnamed man have been contacted by health officials, Dr. Rajata said.
The ministry didn't disclose what airline the man flew in on.
MERS belongs to the same family of viruses as the common cold and Severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and kills more than one-third of the people it infects, largely through respiratory infections. Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. No vaccine exists.
Thailand's acting permanent public health secretary, Dr. Surachet Sathitiniramai, said Tuesday that airport staff are watching for potential sufferers exhibiting symptoms in addition to those who traveled from the Middle East . Anyone suspected of infection will be placed under observation in hospitals or clinics, he said.
The country's Diseases Control Department will also prepare an advisory for the more than 10,000 Thai Muslims who are expected to make the hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia this year, Dr. Surachet added.
In South Korea , where the outbreak is the largest outside Saudi Arabia , more than 6,700 people have been in quarantine at various hospitals or isolated at home, including hundreds of staff from Samsung Medical Center in Seoul .
Wilawan Watcharasakwet contributed to this article
Write to Warangkana Chomchuen at [e-mail] and Nopparat Chaichalearmmongkol at [e-mail]
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-18-15 0842ET
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.