A suspected case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has been reported from Mangalore. Health authorities and Health Minister U.T. Khader confirmed this on Tuesday night.
They said the victim, a 63-year-old woman, had been quarantined in a private hospital. The authorities are waiting for the report of samples of blood and respiratory secretion (“throat sample”) sent to the National Institute of Biologicals (NIB), Pune. The report is expected in a couple of days.
This is the first suspected case of MERS in Karnataka after an alert was sent to airports in Bangalore and Mangalore where MERS screening facilities have been established. The woman had gone to Saudi Arabia on May 11 and returned on May 19. At the airport, the authorities advised her to get a check-up done for MERS as she was coughing. On May 22, she developed symptoms such as cold, fever and cough; following which she got herself admitted to the private hospital. Doctors, who suspected it to be a case of MERS, quarantined her.
District Heath and Family Welfare Office H.S. Shivakumar said a test done at Kasturba Hospital in Manipal had suggested that it was only viral fever. However, the report from NIB would be conclusive.
Mr. Khader said the health authorities had been asked to set up surveillance units at Mangalore and Bangalore international airports. When told that the authorities in Mangalore had said it would be set up by Thursday or Friday, Mr. Khader said he would expedite it. He said there was no need to sound any alert nor was there a need to coordinate with health authorities of neighbouring States.
Screening for MERS began in Bangalore and Mangalore airports after the Bureau of Civil Aviation issued an alert in this connection. Sources at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore, said the alerts came directly to the airport hospital to screen passengers for possible symptoms and quarantine them.
Passengers arriving from the entire West Asia were being screened for MERS.
