Quarantine officials rapped for neglecting suspected MERS patient

By Lee Kyung-min

Criticism is mounting against quarantine officials, Sunday, over lax screening procedures at Incheon International Airport after they failed to report a passenger who was later confirmed to have been infected with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus (CoV).

Despite the obvious major symptom of MERS _ diarrhea _ exhibited and reported by the patient prior to arrival at the airport, the quarantine authorities let him pass through the procedure. This led to over 20 people being quarantined at home for having come into close contact with him.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), the man, 61, whose identity is being withheld, was confirmed to be infected with MERS-CoV, Saturday, a day after returning from a business trip to Al-Zour, Kuwait.

While staying there from Aug. 16 through Sept 6, he visited a local medical institution Aug. 28 to treat diarrhea. He returned to Korea after a brief stop at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Upon his arrival at Incheon International Airport at 4:51 p.m. Friday, he underwent immigration and quarantine procedures.

He submitted a report of his health over the past 21 days, a requirement for those who visit Middle Eastern countries. The law was instituted Aug. 4, 2016, to better detect suspected MERS patients. Those who fail to comply are fined up to 10 million won ($9,700).

In the report, he wrote the names of the countries he had visited and symptoms of illnesses over the past 21 days. He wrote he had diarrhea 10 days before he arrived in Seoul, but that he had no fever or phlegm, or symptoms of respiratory illnesses.

KCDC chief Jeong Eun-kyeong said the man was allowed to return home because he had no indications of major symptoms of MERS.

“The body temperature of the man indicated by a digital ear thermometer was 36.3 degrees Celsius, a normal temperature, and he said he had no other respiratory symptoms,” she said at the press briefing Saturday.

“He did say he had been suffering from diarrhea, so the quarantine officials let him through, recommending he call the 1339 KCDC hotline in case he develops a fever or other MERS symptoms.”

He met his wife at the airport and they took a taxi to visit the emergency room of Samsung Medical Center (SMC) in southern Seoul to treat the diarrhea at 7:22 p.m. Friday.

The hospital examined him in an isolated area inside the emergency room where he showed symptoms of fever, phlegm and pneumonia, following which the hospital officials reported the case to the health authorities as a suspected case of MERS.

Three hours later, he was moved to Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) in central Seoul at 12:33 a.m. Saturday.

His test results came back positive for the disease at 4 p.m. following a test conducted by the Seoul city-run Health and Environment Research Institute.