Filipino who tested positive for MERS virus returns home from UAE, in first known case in Asia

Health Secretary Enrique Ona. Photo from his Facebook Page

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine officials say a Filipino health worker who tested positive for the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus has arrived home from the United Arab Emirates. It’s the first known case of the deadly virus in Asia.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona said Wednesday the Filipino’s blood tested positive but he has no symptoms of the disease. He has been isolated and people who were in contact with him are being traced and quarantined.

Ona said the man was exposed to a Filipino hospital worker who died of the virus in the UAE last week.

MERS belongs to a family of viruses that includes both the common cold and SARS, which killed some 800 people in a global outbreak in 2003. It can cause fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.