He said that officers at the Bandaranaike International Airport Health Office which is attached to the Health Ministry are on alert to take note of any arriving passenger suspected to be infected with MERS Coronavirus.

 

 

Addressing the media in this regard at the BIA Health Office , the Director General further informed that health office desk at the airport will identify such incoming passengers and provide them with immediate medical treatment.

 

 

Five doctors are working at the Airport Health Office for immediate consultation during any emergency. The body temperature of all passengers will be immediately checked by officers with an Infrared Digital Thermometer. Persons identified with an illness will be sent to the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) for further treatment he added.

 

 

Dr Mahipala said the virus has spread rapidly in South Korea affecting and has also affected people in China and Thailand. But, the World Health Organization has not issued any traveling restrictions to these countries.

 

 

MERS is an emerging disease caused by a new strain of corona virus previously not identified in humans, which causes respiratory illness with fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. It is a new beta virus strain of an animal coronavirus that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in September 2012. This novel coronavirus differs from the previously identified AH1N1.

 

 

"Precautionary measures that had been taken would ensure that the disease would not enter Sri Lanka," said Airport Health Officer Dr A.C.L Salgado