THERE ARE NO reported cases of MERS in Barbados or the Caribbean region. The Ministry of Health, in a statement released today, described MERS as a respiratory illness caused by a virus called the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus or MERS-CoV. It was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
Since September 2014 to June this year, countries with confirmed cases include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, China, Korea, Thailand and the United States of America.
In the USA, the two confirmed cases related to patients who had travelled from Saudi Arabia. Both have since fully recovered.
The disease surveillance programme of the Ministry of Health, which is linked to the Caribbean Public Health Agency, the Pan American Health Organisation and the World Health Organisation, is designed to allow timely detection of infectious diseases. Detection is followed by the implementation of an appropriate public health response and communication to all stakeholders, including the public, the statement said.
It added: “In view of the Ministry’s duty to protect the health of the public of Barbados, the Ministry will continue to exercise vigilance in respect of disease surveillance and advise the public in a timely manner.”(BGIS)
