Suspected case in Thai East confirmed flu, not MERS-CoV patient

BANGKOK, July 22 (TNA) - The Department of Medical Sciences, under the Thai Ministry of Public Health, reports that lab test results have confirmed a 27-year-old Thai man in Rayong Province in the Thai East who was earlier suspected of contracting the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (Mers-CoV) has actually contracted an A-type human flu. The department's director-general, Dr. Apichai Mongkol, told journalists of the update on Wednesday, saying that lab tests also confirmed one of the patient's friends who had been quarantined for observation for the fatal virus has been safe from MERS-CoV. Dr. Apichai stressed that authorities concerned are, nonetheless, verifying reports on the death of another friend of the suspected male MERS-CoV patient, noting he expects the reports should be incorrect and the man should still be alive. However, as a precaution, the senior health insisted, Thailand's strict surveillance against MER-CoV has been maintained with 1-6 suspected cases having been reported daily so far. (TNA)