Iran’s Health Ministry Prepared to Deal with Possible MERS Cases
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian health official on Saturday warned the country’s Hajj pilgrims and their families about the risks of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), saying the ministry has formed a committee to prevent the disease as pilgrims are expected to return from Saudi Arabia.
The Ministry of Health has launched a committee to prevent the MERS-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) given the upcoming return of Iranian pilgrims from Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, Deputy Health Minister Ali Akbar Sayyari said in a press conference in Tehran.
Most Coronaviruses have been reported from Saudi Arabia, Sayyari said, announcing that 85 percent of those diagnosed with MERS have contracted it in the Arab country.
He further noted that the country’s airports are prepared for the return of Hajj pilgrims from Sunday, and certain measures will be carried out inside the airplanes carrying back the pilgrims.
In all planes carrying the Iranian pilgrims, a self-assessment form will be distributed among passengers to declare if they have any of the disease’s symptoms, he added.
Sayyari went on to say that if any symptom is noticed in any of the passengers, they will be separated from others and sent to hospital once they arrive in Iran.
In August this year, deaths from the MERS coronavirus surged in Saudi Arabia ahead of the Hajj pilgrimage, with 19 fatalities recorded in a week.
A total of 502 people have died in the kingdom since the virus first appeared in 2012, according to updated figures posted on the Arab country’s health ministry.
The number of MERS infections has also surged to 1,171 cases.
Saudi Arabia, which is hosting more than two million Muslims from all over the world for the annual Hajj, is the country worst hit by the coronavirus.
MERS is considered a deadlier but less infectious cousin of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus that appeared in Asia in 2003 and killed hundreds of people, mostly in China.
Its symptoms can include fever, coughing and shortness of breath. There are no approved vaccines against MERS, which is believed to originate in camels.
