Indonesia steps up checks for MERS after suspected cases

JAKARTA — Indonesia has stepped up surveillance for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus at airports and seaports amid fears that two Indonesian men were suspected to have died from the virus this week, the Jakarta Globe reported yesterday.

Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Agung Laksono on Thursday said measures are already in place at major transportation hubs around the country to monitor people arriving from the Middle East. Heat scanners have also been installed to identify people arriving in the country with a fever who may be potential carriers of the virus.

“We already have experience in handling bird flu so we know how to prepare to prevent the MERS virus from spreading,” Mr Laksono was quoted saying by the Jakarta Globe.

He said the authorities had also prepared 100 hospitals to take in people infected with the virus in case it spreads further.

MERS belongs to a family of viruses that include both the common cold and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which killed about 800 people in a global outbreak in 2003. It can cause symptoms that include fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure. There is no cure or vaccine for the virus yet.

A man who died in Medan, North Sumatra, on Sunday after returning from Saudi Arabia was probably Indonesia’s first victim of MERS, a health official said this week. A second possible victim, aged 50, died in Denpasar, Bali, on Wednesday.

Indonesia on Wednesday placed three residents of Pekanbaru in Riau under quarantine as they allegedly showed symptoms of the virus.

The government has also urged a postponement of pilgrimages until the extent of the outbreak is better understood, the Jakarta Globe reported on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia is expecting an influx of Muslims making the haj pilgrimage in July. In Indonesia alone, hundreds of thousands make the journey each year.

The kingdom said on Thursday it had identified 32 new cases, pushing the total number of infections in the country so far to 463. Four people died of the disease on Wednesday and five on Thursday, taking the total death toll in Saudi Arabia to 126 since MERS was identified two years ago, the Health Ministry said.

Meanwhile, Lebanon said yesterday it had recorded its first case of the virus. It was detected on Thursday in a man who had checked into a local hospital after feeling ill, said its Health Ministry. The man has since been discharged. Agencies