Kerala on Mers alert after suspected case

By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala, which has high exposure to Saudi Arabia through its nearly 1mn workforce, is on high alert against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) coronavirus that has claimed 126 lives in the kingdom so far.

A suspected case of Mers-CoV disease was reported in the northern district of Kozhikode this week.

A special ward isolated from the rest has been opened at the Government Beach Hospital there to meet emergency.

Blood samples of a 57-year-old woman who arrived from Saudi Arabia at the Calicut airport with the symptoms of Mers has been sent for detailed investigation to the Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, in the nearby Karnataka, authorities said yesterday.

“We have been sending an average of five swabs a day for investigation but no confirmed case of Mers has been reported so far. We are continuing strict surveillance and there’s no need to panic,” said Dr P K Jameela, director, Kerala Health Services.

“It takes three to four days to get the test results,” she added.

The disease was first detected in Saudi Arabia in September 2012 and it has since spread to several countries including the UAE, Qatar, Malaysia, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, the Philippines, France, Italy, Britain, Germany and the US.

“We have been closely monitoring the situation since the outbreak of the respiratory illness in Saudi Arabia. I think the health authorities there have succeeded in creating awareness among the expatriates to avoid close person-to-person contact,” she said.

A joint monitoring group under the federal ministry of health and family welfare had held a meeting specifically for the risk assessment of Mers-CoV, Jameela revealed.

The ministry has already issued an advisory to airlines flying to Saudi Arabia to inform passengers about the disease.

International scientists had reportedly listed Kozhikode along with Mumbai as among the 12 most susceptible global cities facing heightened risk of importation of the virus due to the huge airline passenger movement to and from Saudi Arabia and other Mers-affected countries.

The state health department has asked the district medical authorities to intensify the surveillance for Mers-CoV, especially with regards to patients with respiratory distress.

The federal ministry is reportedly planning to activate the screening advisory for Haj pilgrims during upcoming annual Haj season. The presence of a large number of Kerala medical professionals in the kingdom is also a cause for concern as the recently reported secondary cases, according to the World health Organisation, were mainly healthcare workers infected within the healthcare setting.