(Reuters) — Thailand’s health minister said on Sunday (June 21) that no new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) had been detected.
Thailand, which discovered its first case last week, says 175 people were exposed to its single case, with no new infections reported so far.
The virus was first detected in Thailand in a 75-year-old man from Oman who travelled to Bangkok for treatment of a heart condition. Three of his relatives were also being monitored.
“The three relatives have not developed other symptoms. We are monitoring them closely at Bamrasnaradura hospital. There are no reports of a new case from across Thailand,” said Thai Health Minister, Rajata Rajatanavin, at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport.
Three relatives of the man were being kept in isolation rooms at the institute and had tested negative for the virus, Surachet Satiniramai, acting permanent secretary at the health ministry, said on Saturday.
Rajata led reporters on a tour of the airport to show health and safety measures that have been put in place, including thermoscans for passengers.
Rajata said the infected man was showing signs of improvement.
“(The infected man) has no fever. He is conscious with a good heart rate, no asthma symptoms and is receiving the same level of oxygen,” he said.
In a statement on Saturday (June 20) the Thai health ministry said it had been in touch with all 175 people exposed to its single case and had instructed them to stay away from public spaces and for medical personnel to monitor their health.
Doctors at Bumrungrad Hospital said on Friday (June 19) that it quarantined 58 staff members but that there had been no panic, with no patients at the hospital asking for transfer to other facilities.
Bangkok is one of the region’s main aviation hubs and tourism accounts for 10 percent of the Thai economy. Thai Tourism Minister, Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, said the tourism industry had not been hit.
One tourist was confident in the country’s measures.
“I think since they already found one case and they are productive about that, I feel they are going to make more progress in it. Since I’m here I do have a lot of confidence in them that they will strive to contain it and not make it spread,” said 24 year-old Christina Cerbantes from the United States.
MERS is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one that triggered China’s deadly 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
The vast majority of MERS infections and deaths have been in Saudi Arabia, where more than 1,000 people have been infected since 2012 and around 454 have died.
Isolated cases have cropped up in Asia before South Korea’s outbreak.
