Muscat: The Omani Ministry of Health affirmed there was no outbreak of the MERS disease in the country following the case of a 75-year-old Omani national who tested positive for MERS while visiting Thailand for medical treatment last week.
The ministry visited the man’s family members in Oman to test them for the virus. It confirmed all the members were in good health and there was no concern of the disease spreading in the country.
The man continues to be under observation in a Thai hospital for at least two more weeks. His two sons, who accompanied him on the trip have also been quarantined at a different hospital.
The ministry, meanwhile, urged caution in dealing with animals, especially camels.
It also advised people who suffer from respiratory infections to follow proper and sanitary ways to sneeze and cough by covering their mouths and keeping a distance from others.
The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has spread at a rapid pace in South Korea since the first case was diagnosed on May 20, infecting 166 people in the largest outbreak outside Saudi Arabia.
The 75-year-old is the seventh reported Omani infected by MERS since the disease surfaced in Oman for the first time in October 2013.
