First case of MERS in Southeast Asia reported in Thailand

Bangkok

 Thailand on Thursday said a 75-year-old man from Oman was confirmed to have MERS in Southeast Asia's first case of the virus since an outbreak in South Korea that has killed 23 people.

 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has spread at an alarmingly rapid pace in South Korea since the first case was diagnosed on May 20, infecting 165 in what is the largest outbreak outside Saudi Arabia.

 Thailand, a booming medical tourism hub popular with Middle Eastern patients, announced its first positive MERS case Thursday after around 20 people earlier tested negative for the virus.

 "(The man) is from a Middle Eastern country. The (test) results confirmed that he has Middle East Respiratory Syndrome," said Rajata Rajatanavin, Thailand's Public Health Minister, adding the patient had arrived in the kingdom with his family three days ago.

 A Thai government spokesman later told reporters the man was from Oman and had travelled to a central Bangkok hospital for treatment for a heart problem.

Earlier Thursday World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan expressed guarded optimism over South Korea's ability to contain a MERS outbreak after the WHO previously described the spread of the disease as a "wake-up call".

 "Our current assessment of the MERS situation in South Korea... is the government is now on a very good footing," she told reporters, adding that the situation does not constitute an international public health emergency.

"The MERS outbreak will be brought under control... although it may take a little longer than everyone would like to see," said Chan, who is in South Korea for a previously scheduled conference.

 She said that the government had admitted it got off to a "slow start" but that its efforts strengthened "very quickly and systemically and very significantly", resulting in a decline in new cases.

The good news is that scientists have not detected any genetic change in the virus, she said.

The WHO said Wednesday that a lack of awareness about the virus among health workers and the public was a major contributing factor to its rapid spread.

According to an earlier WHO statement MERS cases have been reported in four Asian countries before Thailand -- China, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines -- since the virus first surfaced in Saudi Arabia in 2012.