A Muslim pilgrim wears a protective mask in the emergency department at Al-Noor Specialist Hospital in Mecca September 30, 2014. According to hospital director Dr. Mohammad bin Omar, the hospital did not record any cases of pilgrims bearing the MERS coron
A Muslim pilgrim wears a protective mask in the emergency department at Al-Noor Specialist Hospital in Mecca September 30, 2014. According to hospital director Dr. Mohammad bin Omar, the hospital did not record any cases of pilgrims bearing the MERS coronavirus or Ebola virus entering Mecca for the Haj season, and that most of the cases referred to the hospital were of elderly patients with common ailments. Reuters/ Muhammad hamed

The Philippines logged its first confirmed case of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) through a migrant Filipina nursed based in Saudi Arabia who arrived in Manila on Feb 1, together with her husband, for a vacation.

GMA News reports that she flew in aboard Saudia Airlines Flight 860 with more than 200 passengers on board and showed symptoms of the ailment the following day. To control the spread of MERS-CoV, health authorities are tracing all the 225 other passengers of that flight, acting Health Secretary Janette Garin said on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old nurse tested positive for the virus and is undergoing treatment at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine where she is in a stable condition, according to Xinhua.

A DOH spokesman said the nurse had fever, body pain, cough and difficulty in breathing, but her husband, who was on the same flight, tested negative.

According to the World Health Organisation, the disease has infected 965 people, of whom 375 have died, majority of them in Saudi Arabia, where MERS-CoV was first reported in 2012, Reuters reports.

The ailment has spread to nine Middle Eastern nations and 13 other countries which happened originated from overseas.

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