Update - Philippines Confirms Second Mers Case İn Foreigner

The Philippines' health department has confirmed its second case of MERS after a foreigner tested positive for the flu-like illness.



Janette L. Garin, health secretary, told reporters Monday that the patient who arrived in the country from the Middle East is currently receiving treatment at the department's Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in a Manila suburb.



"The 36-year-old patient is currently being monitored… He is in stable condition," the state-run Philippine News Agency "ed her as saying.



No details about the patient's identity or nationality have been released, but the Sun.Star Manila reported that the foreigner had traveled from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in late June after a stopover in Saudi Arabia.



According to Garin, the findings of continuous monitoring suggest that the viral load of the patient is low.



The patient reportedly sought medical consultation Thursday after experiencing flu-like symptoms, before testing positive for MERS two days later.



Garin has commended the patient's cooperative attitude in disclosing basic information that could help in tracing others who had been nearby and monitoring them for symptoms.



Local media reported that a Filipina who had close contact with the patient has been placed under close observation and is being tested after she was detected with a cough, which is being treated.



Dr. Lyndon Lee-Suy, health department spokesman, was "ed as saying, "at present, the female is also under isolation. We are still awaiting the results of laboratory tests."



Another seven people who had close contact with the foreigner were recommended to undergo home quarantine despite not currently exhibiting any symptoms.



A health department task force is also tracing around 200 other passengers who had been on board the same flight.



Details of the tracing process' results will be disclosed in coming days, according to Lee-Suy.



In February, a Filipina nurse returning back from Saudi Arabia had tested positive for MERS, but recovered from the deadly virus – which has a fatality rate of more than 40 percent in Saudi Arabia where it was first discovered in 2012.



The Malacang presidential palace has assured the public that the Philippines is "fully ready and capable of detecting, isolating, and treating" the disease.



Inquirer.net "ed Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma as saying that President Benigno Aquino III had tasked the health department with tightening surveillance and quarantine measures at ports of entry, as well as ensuring hospitals' prompt reporting of patients showing MERS symptoms.



Meanwhile, the vice mayor of a predominantly Christian city in the country's Muslim south has expressed concern over its susceptibility to a possible outbreak due to Zamboanga being a "very open" gateway to the Southeast Asian region.



"That's why it is very important the concerned authorities… do everything to ensure that our place, the city of Zamboanga, is protected from the possibility of entering this MERS to the city," Cesar Iturralde, acting chief executive of Zamboanga, told a press conference.



More than two dozen countries have reported cases of MERS, including South Korea, the U.S., Britain, France and Germany.



South Korea confirmed its first case on May 20, since when the death toll has reached 33. - Zamboanga