Alarming: MERS-CoV

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MANILA, Philippines – The government is still locating more than half of the Etihad Airways passengers who have been urged to get tested for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Malacañang said on Monday.

Presidential Communications Operations Office head Sonny Coloma said as of 8 a.m. Monday, 173 out of the 414 passengers or 42 percent have been contacted by the government.

One hundred of these contacted passengers had been tested and yielded negative results, Coloma added.

The Palace official said the Department of Health (DOH) and the Inter-Agency Task Force MERS coronavirus have been directed by President Aquino to step up their efforts in locating and contacting the remaining passengers of the April 15 Etihad Airways flight EY0424.

The flight carried a Filipino nurse from Abu Dhabi who tested positive for the disease.

"The President instructed the DOH to ensure that all the passengers undergo a free nose and throat swabbing tests for the MERS coronavirus in all public hospitals or DOH-accredited medical facilities," Coloma said.

Coloma is reiterating the government's appeal to have everyone onboard the flight to voluntarily contact authorities and get tested for MERS-CoV.

He said the passengers may contact the DOH through the following numbers anytime: 711-1001; 711-1002; 0922-884-1564; 0920-949-8419; and 0915-772-5621.

The government has confirmed that a Filipino died of the disease on April 10 while five others who were reportedly affected remain in quarantine.

Since there is no MERS-CoV outbreak yet, the government has not issued a travel ban to the countries in the Middle East. But all Filipinos traveling to and from those areas have been advised to avoid contact with persons showing influenza-like illness and to observe frequent hand washing.

First reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia, most people who were infected with MERS-CoV developed severe acute respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"About half of them died. Some people were reported as having a mild respiratory illness," the CDC said in its website.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2014/04/21/1314435/100-etihad-passengers-test-negative-mers-cov

Nice to know:

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that includes viruses that may cause a range of illnesses in humans, from the common cold to SARS. Viruses of this family also cause a number of animal diseases. 

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
This particular strain of coronavirus has not been previously identified in humans. There is very limited information on transmission, severity and clinical impact with only a small number of cases reported thus far.