DOH 7 Traces Co-Passengers of Pinay Nurse Tested Positive of MERS-CoV

(PNA) — The Department of Health (DOH) 7 is tracing the co-passengers of a General Santos City-bound Filipina nurse from Saudi Arabia who tested positive for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-CoronaVirus (MERS-CoV), an official said.

Rennan Cimafranca, chief of the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of DOH 7, said they are waiting for the list of passengers from their central office in Manila.

He said the DOH has confirmed that the Filipina nurse who returned to the country from Saudi Arabia was indeed infected with the dreaded virus.

Cimafranca said that as soon as they receive the list, they will immediately trace who the nurse’s fellow passengers were as well as their respective addresses.

The Filipina nurse was among the 249 passengers onboard Saudi Airlines flight SV 870 that arrived in Manila on Friday, August 29.

On Sunday, August 31, she took the Cebu Pacific flight SJ 997 to General Santos City with 142 other passengers.

Cimafranca said that even if the General Santos City-bound flight was from Manila and not from Cebu, they will still check to make sure that Central Visayas remains safe from MERS-CoV.

First reported in Saudi Arabia, MERS-CoV is a highly fatal respiratory disease presenting an influenza-like illness characterized by fever, cough, and diarrhea.

As of July, the World Health Organization has reported 837 laboratory-confirmed cases including 291 deaths. (PNA) FPV/EB