Indonesian allegedly contracts MERS-CoV in Saudi Arabia

The Health Ministry says an Indonesian citizen is suspected to have contracted the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) and is now receiving a medical treatment at King Saud Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

"The Indonesian citizen has long been domiciled in Saudi Arabia and is not on an umroh (minor haj) pilgrim. The patient allegedly infected with the corona virus is being treated at King Saud Hospital, Jeddah, since April 20," said the ministry's director general of disease control and environmental health, Tjandra Yoga Aditama, in a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

There are no details on the current condition of the Indonesian, identified only by the initials NA, 61.

Tjandra said however, the ministry had continued to coordinate with related Saudi Arabian authorities to monitor the case.

"I talked directly to the Foreign Ministry's director general for Asia-Pacific and Africa last night and have just been contacted by the Indonesian Ambassador in Saudi Arabia, confirming that there is a MERS-CoV-infected patient from Indonesia," said Tjandra.

He said the ministry was closely monitoring the MERS-CoV cases that had been spreading in several Middle Eastern countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that a number of MERS-CoV cases were found in Mecca and Medina, two main cities for hajj and umroh pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.

"For Indonesia, this becomes very crucial because many umroh pilgrims from Indonesia visit those two cities during the pilgrimage season," said Tjandra.

Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry said Sunday that eight more people have died after contracting the lethal virus related to SARS as the kingdom grapples with the rising number of cases, The Associated Press reported.

It said it had detected a total of 16 cases of the MERS-CoV over the past 24 hours. The latest cases bring the number of people who have died after contracting the disease in Saudi Arabia since September 2012 to102. To date a total of 339 cases have been recorded in the kingdom. (ebf)

source: www.thejakartapost.com