No MERS in Bahrain

Manama

New facts were yesterday revealed, in regards to the recent reports on detecting the first Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Korean patient, who reportedly travelled from Bahrain to Korea, just before being diagnosed by health authorities there.

In a press statement issued yesterday, Health Ministry reaffirmed that Bahrain remains MERS free and that “it’s very unlikely that the patient was infected by the deadly virus in the Kingdom, as it never appeared here.”

The ministry explained, “MERS symptoms take around 2-14 days to appear, from the time a person is infected with it. The patient showed the symptoms 19 days after he left Bahrain.”

It was also mentioned in the statement that the patient visited other GCC countries, before travelling back home.

The ministry said, “World Health Organisation (WHO) specialists confirmed that symptoms only appeared on the patient seven days after reaching Korea, indicating that the disease was not infectious during his stay in the Kingdom and while he travelled, hence, there’s no necessity to examine the individuals he interacted with.”

Meanwhile, International news agencies reported “South Korean health officials confirmed the country's first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in a patient who recently returned from Bahrain and is in stable condition after being treated for a high fever and cough.”

The report elaborated, “According to South Korea’s Health Ministry, the 68-year-old man was in Bahrain from April 18 to May 3 and was engaged in farming-related business. He returned to South Korea on May 4 through Qatar.”

Health Ministry Public and International Relations Directorate affirmed yesterday that it’s following up with the concerned Korean and GCC health authorities, as well as WHO, in order to be updated about the latest development in the man’s case.

According to WHO, a total of 1,118 MERS cases were reported, including 423 deaths, since the deadly virus emerged.