A monitor connected to a body temperature scanner shows passengers arriving from South Korea at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday. The WHO said the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea is the largest seen outside the Middle East. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) –A Filipino female nurse in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, tested positive for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) two weeks ago.
Amelito Adel, welfare officer of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa), said the nurse contracted MERS from patients in the hospital where she was working.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also confirmed the news through the Consulate General in Jeddah, but noted that the nurse’s condition was getting better in the past days.
“After several days of treatment in the intensive care unit, the patient showed good improvement. Laboratory tests for MERS CoV turned positive,” DFA said.
“She was unhooked from the mechanical ventilator a few days ago and is already breathing on her own. She will probably be taken out of the ICU and transferred to an isolation room in a few days,” it added.
MERS was first identified in Saudi Arabia in April 2012. (MNS)