The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has announced that a new Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (Mers-CoV) case has been confirmed on a 29 year old camel worker.
This is the third Mers-CoV case to be confirmed in the country this year.This takes the total number of confirmed Mers-CoV cases since 2012 to 21 and out of them seven have died.
The patient had complaints of fever and dry cough for several days. He sought medical attention in Hamad General Hospital where an X-Ray investigation suggested severe pneumonia. As he was in frequent contact with camels, further samples were collected from the patient. He ultimately tested positive for Mers-CoV according to Hamad Medical Corporation laboratories.
Despite his stable condition, the patient was admitted to hospital, in consistence with the national infection prevention and control protocol for confirmed and suspected Mers-CoV cases to ensure appropriate medical attention. However, neither a history of contact with similar cases nor a recent travel outside the country was reported for the patient who has no co-morbidities.
Once the case has been confirmed, the rapid response team of the Health Protection and Communicable disease Control department at the MoPH, accompanied with the team from Animal Health Department, Ministry of Municipality and Environment, have started a field investigation to assess the possible source of the infection and to verify whether any of the patient contacts has suspected symptoms. Consequently, all traced contacts will be monitored over a period of two weeks, while those who develop suspected symptoms will then be subjected to confirmatory laboratory investigation.
The MoPH advises citizens and residents, in particular those with co-morbidities or low immunity, to abide by cough etiquette and handwashing with soap and water thoroughly and avoid unnecessary contact with sick animals.
Health Protection & CDC Hotlines 66740948 and 66740951 are accessible 24/7 to respond to any notification or enquiry related to infectious diseases.
