ABU DHABI // A 65-year-old died after contracting Mers, Health Authority Abu Dhabi said on Thursday.
The patient, who was not Emirati, was one of two new confirmed cases in the country.
He developed symptoms on May 31 and was admitted to hospital on June 6, the World Health Organisation reported.
The WHO said the patient had “comorbidities and tested positive for Mers-CoV on June 14”.
They also said that he had “no history of exposure to known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms”.
The second patient is being treated in hospital and is expected to recover, state news agency Wam reported. The authority is working with the Ministry of Health and other institutions to investigate the cases and isolate any potential spread of the disease.
The ministry said that its epidemic investigation centres were monitoring the situation around the clock.
Last month, two expatriates who contracted the virus in Al Ain after working with camels were discharged from hospital after being given the all-clear.
Also on Thursday, Thailand became the fourth Asian country this year to register the virus, when its health ministry confirmed a 75-year-old businessman from Oman had tested positive for Mers.
A recent outbreak in South Korea has caused 23 deaths, with 165 confirmed cases of the infection and more than 6,700 people held in quarantine. The outbreak, the largest outside Saudi Arabia, may be slowing down with the number of new cases dropping to single digits. China and the Philippines have each reported a case this year.
As of Tuesday, globally, WHO has been notified of 1,293 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection, including at least 458 related deaths. The organisation emphasised the need for food hygiene practices to be observed and said people should avoid drinking raw camel milk or camel urine, or eating meat that has not been properly cooked.
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