Iran reports 1st MERS casualty

TEHRAN: A woman has died from the MERS coronavirus in Iran’s southeastern province of Kerman, Iran’s first victim, media reported Thursday.
The 53-year-old woman was one of two sisters the Health Ministry said Wednesday had tested positive for the illness.
“Despite all the efforts made by the medical staff, the patient who was infected by the coronavirus passed away,” Mohammad Mehdi Gooya, transmissible diseases unit chief, told Fars news agency.
The patient, suffered from high blood pressure and her immune system could not fight the virus, Gooya added. Gooya said the second sister was in good condition and had been discharged from hospital.
Meanwhile, Mehdi Shafiei, head of the Kerman disease prevention unit, was quoted by Mehr news agency as saying there are six other suspected cases in Kerman.
Gooya said Wednesday that Iranian authorities would test all returning pilgrims from Saudi Arabiaand that anybody displaying potential symptoms would be kept under quarantine for two weeks.
MERS is considered a deadlier but less transmissible cousin of the SARS virus.