Yahoo News 
UAE-resident Filipino originally diagnosed with MERS cleared of disease days later
A nurse who tested positive for Middle East Respiratory Virus (MERS) upon arrival in his native Philippines from Abu Dhabi has been found free of infection in a subsequent examination.
The Filipino man, who has not been named, flew to Manila on an Etihad Airways flight on Tuesday and immediately subjected himself to quarantine, along with relatives and others who greeted him on arrival from the UAE, Philippine Health Secretary Enrique Ona said.
The nurse was a co-worker of a Filipino paramedic who died from infection in Al Ain on April 10.
“Fortunately for him, as well as for the comfort of everybody, the findings of our Research Institute for Tropical Medicine show he tested negative,” Ona said.
Ona, who announced at a press conference on Wednesday that the man had tested positive for MERS, said the government has been trying to locate all 415 passengers from Tuesday’s Flight 0424 from Abu Dhabi to Manila so they can be tested for the virus.
He also urged other Filipinos returning from the Middle East with flu-like symptoms to report to the nearest hospital.
The Associated Press reported that UAE health authorities were also contacting passengers, while crew members from the flight were also being screened for the virus. News of the Filipino’s clean bill of health came as authorities in Saudi Arabia reported additional infections in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. The Health Ministry reported seven new confirmed cases of MERS, including two fatalities.
The Saudi health ministry had reported additional new infections in the western city and the capital, Riyadh, on Friday. A tally provided by the Saudi ministry records a total of 76 fatalities among 231 confirmed cases in the kingdom since the virus was identified in 2012.
In the Philippines, Emerging Infectious Diseases programme manager Dr Lyndon Lee Suy said there was currently no epidemic of MERS, which was first identified in 2012. Also, the World Health Organisation has not issued any restrictions on travelling to or from the Middle East, where more than one million Filipinos work.
Lee Suy said 119 passengers had been contacted and 72 tested, with 40 so far showing no infection. He said all the nurse’s relatives and well-wishers who welcomed him had also tested negative for the virus. The nurse will undergo another test before being discharged.
Ona said the nurse had not shown any flu-like symptoms typical of infection from the virus, such as fever, cough and cold.
news@7days.ae
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