Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) has announced that a new Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) case has been confirmed for a 40-years old resident works as a camel worker in Qatar, marking the second MERS-CoV case to be confirmed in the country in 2016.
The case, who neither was in contact with a suspected case nor he has been abroad during the last two weeks, is free from chronic diseases that usually cause immunity suppression. He was admitted to Hamad General Hospital with general symptoms where the routine investigations tested positive for MERS-CoV despite he did not exhibit any respiratory related symptoms. The patient currently in stable condition and receives the necessary medical care in the isolation ward according to the national protocol of the infection prevention and control.
Once the case has been confirmed, the rapid response team of MOPH has carried out extensive search to list all potential contacts with the purpose to check for their possible consistence with the standard case definition of the suspected cases based on the WHO guidelines. 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.
While research efforts continue on a global and local level to determine the modes of transmission of MERS-CoV infection, the Ministry of Public Health advises citizens and residents who suffer from chronic diseases to avoid direct contact with camels and to wash hands with soap and water thoroughly. Also MOPH recommends to implement respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette with the need to boil camel milk before drinking.
MOPH proclaimed that Health Protection & CDC Hotlines 66740948 & 66740951 are accessible 24/7 to respond to any notification or enquiry related to infectious diseases.
