(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Thailand's health ministry has threatened some hospitals with legal action for failing to take in Middle Eastern patients suspected of being infected with MERS after the country reported its first case of the flu-like virus last week.
Boonruang Triruangworawat, the ministry's health service support director general, told reporters Tuesday that hospitals must accept all patients from the Middle East regardless of fears over the illness.
Boonruang was speaking after two private hospitals reportedly sent suspected MERS patients from the region to a government-run infectious disease center in a taxi cab.
The transfer of the patients was against disease control protocols and the private hospitals could face legal action, Boonruang warned.
Thailand confirmed its first case of MERS last week after a 75-year-old man from Oman seeking treatment for heart disease came down with the illness - which has a fatality rate of more than 40 percent in Saudi Arabia where it was first discovered in 2012.
The patient was initially quarantined at a private hospital, later identified as Bumrungrad Hospital, before being transferred by the government to its infectious disease control center.
Three members of his family who had been traveling alongside him were also isolated and quarantined, but tests for MERS have so far shown up negative, the ministry said Monday.
Bumrungrad also revealed that it was monitoring all staff who had direct contact with the patient.
On Monday, the ministry's acting permanent secretary Surachet Satitramai said Thailand will introduce several new measures for the estimated 10,000 Muslims undertaking the Hajj pilgrimage this September.
The pilgrims will be vaccinated for flu and yellow fever before their travels and monitored for up to a month upon their return, while the ministry will dispatch its own doctors to monitor them during their journey.
More than two dozen countries have reported cases of MERS, including South Korea, the U.S., Britain, France and Germany.
South Korea confirmed its first case on May 20, since when the death toll has reached 27, with 175 infected patients.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's government has also announced it will increase health screening at all entry points to prevent the spread of the disease.
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