Rawalpindi patient catched viral infection, not MERS-CoV: official

Rawalpindi patient catched viral infection, not MERS-CoV: official "Patient has been discharged after his recovery and testing negative for MERS-CoV,” says doctor RAWALPINDI: The patient who was thought to have contracted Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Rawalpindi was actually suffering with a viral infection, said a health official on Saturday. Muhammad Ameen, who hailed from Punjab's Kharian, had returned from a Middle Eastern country a month ago. MERS-CoV — not to be confused with COVID-19, commonly known as the coronavirus, pandemic — is a viral respiratory illness first identified in 2012, and has been reported in 27 countries.

However, Medical Superintendent of Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) Dr Tahir Rizvi said MERS-CoV was not detected in the patient. “The patient has been discharged after his recovery and testing negative for MERS-CoV,” the official said. Following suspicion of Ameen’s contracting MERS-CoV, at least 40 members of his family were tested for the virus.

The 55-year-old was transferred to BBH in Rawalpindi on September 5, where he remained in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for several days. He was kept in isolation. The MERS-CoV disease has a mortality rate of around 36%, although this figure may be inflated due to the underreporting of mild, undetected cases.

Symptoms of MERS-CoV include fever, cough, and difficulty breathing, with some patients developing severe respiratory distress. The mortality rate is particularl.