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Quarantined Navi Mumbai man tests negative for MERS-CoV

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The 40-year-old Navi Mumbai resident, who was quarantined in Kasturba Hospital for suspected Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV), tested negative and will be discharged soon, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s health official on Friday.

The man had a history of travelling to Middle East for business and after returning got fever and a progressing pneumonia. His general physician from Navi Mumbai referred him to Kasturba Hospital where he was quarantined and sputum samples sent to National Institute of Virology (Pune) for testing.

Dr Mangala Gomare, epidemiologist (BMC) said: “His MERS-CoV report came this morning confirming that he is not suffering from the disease. He also tested negative for swine flu.”

Dr Gomare added that the man is responding well to medication and there is no need to press the panic button on MERS-CoV.

As a precautionary measure, the BMC asked the state government to give them guidelines and protocol on dealing with MERS-CoV.

“We have written to the state government asking them to give us guidelines and protocols that needs to be followed for MERS-CoV and how to go about with the screening process,” said Dr Gomare.

Meanwhile, the BMC has kept its swine flu wards dedicated for MERS-CoV suspected cases. “Swine flu no longer requires quarantine and can be treated like a flu case. We have therefore kept the ward now for MERS-CoV suspects,” said a senior doctor from Kasturba Hospital, BMC’s only infectious disease hospital in Byculla.

India is among the countries that faces the highest risk of importing the deadly MERS coronavirus with Mumbai at the top of the list of susceptible cities. About 80 cases have been confirmed worldwide with a mortality rate of more than 50%.

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