Azerbaijan takes measures against MERS

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan’s Health Ministry has begun implementing measures to prevent the entry of the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) virus into the country, according to Rita Ismayilova, the department head at the National Anti-plague Station.

Ismayilova noted that the situation concerning infectious disesases in Azerbaijan is stable.

She said that the government takes measures in this regard. The border crossing points control and monitor the flow of people arriving in Azerbaijan from states with the highest number of virus cases.

“In connection with the virus, the government carries out educational work both among the population and health workers. We make all preventive measures, however, no country is immune from this. If an infected person will arrive in Azerbaijan, then the Scientific Research Institute of Lung Diseases has chambers with all the necessary conditions for the treatment of patients with respiratory failure and other symptoms. These chambers were also operating during the spread of the Ebola virus,” Ismayilova said.

Ismayilova urges people to be cautious. “In order to protect yourselves from the disease, it is necessary to wash hands frequently, wipe them with wet towels, and not to touch the mouth, nose, and eyes with dirty hands,” she explained.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome is a viral respiratory illness that is new to humans. Some of those who were infected had mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, but most people infected with MERS-CoV developed severe respiratory ailments, including fever, a cough, and shortness of breath. Others reported having gastrointestinal symptoms, like diarrhea nausea/vomiting, and kidney failure.

Noting that the virus belongs to the MERS coronavirus, the department head said that the maximum incubation period for the disease is 14 days.

So far, the virus has been found in 25 countries.

South Korea and Philippines have been recording an outbreak of MERS. It is the largest known outbreak of the disease outside the Arabian Peninsula, where the virus was first identified in 2012.

In South Korea, 166 people have been infected, 24 have died, and thousands have been under quarantine or observation as of mid-June 20.

Approximately 36 percent of reported patients with MERS have died, according to the World Health Organization.