Thai authorities took nearly four days to confirm the country’s first case of Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers), the health ministry has said – a time lag likely to raise fears of a further spread of the deadly virus in Asia.

Thailand confirmed its first case of Mers on Thursday, a 75-year-old businessman from Oman, just as an outbreak in South Korea that began last month and has infected 166 people, and killed 24 of them, appeared to be levelling off.

The infected man had arrived in the Thai capital, Bangkok, on Monday on an Oman Air flight for medical treatment for a heart ailment at a private hospital.

On Friday, the public health minister, Rajata Rajatanavin, declined to identify the hospital and said the patient had been put in quarantine at an infectious diseases institute in Bangkok on Thursday.

“It took about four days to diagnose this case and two lab tests,” Rajata said.

Hong Kong tests two people for Mers as alarm over virus grows

Authorities wanted to monitor all 106 people on board the man’s flight, he said, though it was not clear how everyone could be traced.

Among those being monitored were the man’s two sons, who were considered at high risk because of their proximity to their father. The two had been tested and results were due later on Friday, Rajata said.

Most of those under observation had been told to stay at home for 14 days.

The Thai case will compound fears in Asia of a repeat of a 2002-2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which began in China and killed about 800 people globally.

Shares in Thai aviation companies and hotels fell on Friday, with hotel operator Central Plaza Hotel plunging 6.6%. Airports operator Airports of Thailand dropped 4.2% to a more than three-week low.

...Thailand's first Mers patient, an Omani national, is still in a stable condition, officials at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi's Muang district said this morning. They have been able to reduce the amount of oxygen assistance he needs and his heart is still functioning well. Earlier in the day, officials said his family members had showed no sign of the disease, but now the Health Minister says that has changed. Two relatives are being tested and the final results won't be known for two days.

Meanwhile, one of the big problems with Mers is that it takes time to diagnose – in this case, several days – so that people who might have been exposed have scattered to many places around the country and even abroad. It is not that easy to find them.
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The health ministry initially announced 59 people were in quarantine, but today it revised the number of people who had been in contact with the infected man to 161. Of these 68 were classed as being at high risk, including the three relatives of the Omani who accompanied him to Thailand.

Transmission

MERS-CoV, like other coronaviruses, is thought to spread from an infected person’s respiratory secretions, such as through coughing. However, the precise ways the virus spreads are not currently well understood.

MERS-CoV has spread from ill people to others through close contact, such as caring for or living with an infected person. Infected people have spread MERS-CoV to others in healthcare settings, such as hospitals. Researchers studying MERS have not seen any ongoing spreading of MERS-CoV in the community.

All reported cases have been linked to countries in and near the Arabian Peninsula. Most infected people either lived in the Arabian Peninsula or recently traveled from the Arabian Peninsula before they became ill. A few people became infected with MERS-CoV after having close contact with an infected person who had recently traveled from the Arabian Peninsula.

PHNOM PENH, (VOA) - Cambodian health authorities are on high alert, following the first confirmed case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, in Thailand, Thursday.

Diagnosis systems have been installed at major border checkpoints and at the airports of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

Health officials say people traveling in either the Middle East or South Korea should pay special attention to health symptoms and report any suspicious symptoms immediately.