Thailand confirms first case of deadly MERS virus

Thailand has confirmed its first case of the deadly MERS virus after the death of a septuagenarian who had traveled to the Southeast Asian country for cardiac treatment. 

Thailand's Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin told a news conference in the capital city of Bangkok that a 75-year-old businessman, who recently traveled from Oman for treatment of a heart condition, had tested positive for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

"From two lab tests we can confirm that the MERS virus was found," Rajata said, adding that the patient has been quarantined at Bamrasbaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Thailand’s central province of Nonthaburi.

The health minister further noted that the man began to show MERS symptoms after he was admitted to a private hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, Thanarath Phalipat, director of Thailand’s Bureau of Epidemiology, said 59 people, who were in contact with the patient, are being monitored for the virus.

MERS, a cousin of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), causes fever, coughing, pneumonia and kidney failure. There is no vaccine for the virus that has a mortality rate of 35 percent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

MERS was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It has since spread across the globe, including most recently to the Asian countries of China, the Philippines and South Korea.

MERS has killed 23 people and infected about 165 in South Korea, making it the largest outbreak of the disease outside Saudi Arabia.

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