(Eagle News) — The Department of Health said that a patient suspected of having Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) who was first rushed to a Laguna hospital had tested negative for the disease.
The 47-year old man who arrived in the Philippines last Feb. 14 from Saudi Arabia was first reportedly rushed to the emergency room of the Laguna Doctors Hospital before he was transferred to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa City where he was quarantined and tested.
“Yes. The patient tested negative for MERS-CoV,” said Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo.
Approximately 35% of reported patients with MERS-CoV infection have died, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Symptoms of MERS-Cov include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Other symptoms may include and gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhea.
WHO said that the virus “does not seem to pass easily from person to person unless there is close contact, such as occurs when providing unprotected care to a patient.”
MERS-Cov or Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, or MERS‐CoV) that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
