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In sharp contrast to the South Korean experience, Thailand has successfully identified, isolated, treated and now released their first imported MERS case – all without incurring secondary cases among patients, staff or visitors to their healthcare facilities.
The case was described by the WHO in a June 20th update:
The case is a 75-year-old, Omani male that travelled from Oman to Thailand to seek medical care. The patient, who has comorbidities, developed symptoms on 10 June and was admitted to hospital in Oman. As symptoms did not improve, he decided to travel to Thailand to seek treatment. He took a flight with three family members and arrived in Bangkok on 15 June. Neither the patient nor his family members reported fever upon arrival in Thailand. He was admitted to hospital on 15 June and tested positive for MERS-CoV on 18 June. On 18 June, the patient and his three family members were transferred to another health care facility where they were put in isolation. Currently, the patient is in stable condition.
Although it never hurts to get lucky in these sorts of situations, nothing trumps good infection control and contact tracing. Over the following 2 weeks 176 contacts were quarantined or isolated, and none developed the illness. Today, the Omani patient has been certified free of the virus and has been discharged.
This from Reuters.
Thailand's first MERS case to leave hospital
July 3, 2015 2:50 pm
BANGKOK (Reuters) - An Omani man who became Thailand's first case of Middle East Respiratory Sydnrome (MERS) has made a full recovery and will be discharged from hospital on Friday, the health minister said.
The 75-year-old man, who had travelled to Bangkok for treatment for a heart condition and was then diagnosed with the virus, was declared free of the disease earlier this week.
"The medical team looking after the patient and three of his relatives have decided that they can return home," Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin told reporters, adding that the man and three of his relatives who travelled with him to Bangkok were preparing to leave an infectious diseases facility.
