Abou Faour: First MERS Infection Detected in Lebanon

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour announced on Thursday afternoon that the first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus has been detected in Lebanon.

"One person has been diagnosed with MERS, and he was being treated at a hospital in the country,” Future television quoted the minister as saying.

But Abou Faour noted that the infected patient “has left the hospital after showing signs of recovery.”

Ministry sources told An Nahar daily that the man, who is a Lebanese national, arrived in Lebanon coming from a Gulf country.

Earlier in the day, the minister denied that any MERS cases were detected in Lebanon, stressing that all precautions have been taken at the Rafik Hariri International Airport.

“We took some measures at the airport. Two thermal cameras were installed to detect individuals with high body temperatures, the first indicator for infections with the MERS virus,” the state-run National News Agency quoted him as saying.

“Until the moment, all samples taken at the hospitals have tested negative. No cases of infection with the deadly virus have been recorded in Lebanon so far,” added the Minister in the morning.

Abu Faour's comments came after touring the airport accompanied by head of the Public Health parliamentary committee Atef Majdalani where they inspected the measures taken at the airport to halt possible entry of infected individuals to Lebanon.

On Wednesday, media reports raised fears that an infected Saudi national was transferred to the Hotel Dieu hospital on suspicion of MERS infection, but were renounced by the hospital afterwards.

D.A./ S.D.B.

G.K.