Advisory unchanged, India to continue screening Haj pilgrims

Oman and Kuwait, which are not in the list, have reported MERS cases in recent weeks.

In the wake of a spate of fresh cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) infections in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, India will continue with its screening advisory — issued in October last year — to screen Haj pilgrims.

Two more countries — Greece and Malaysia — have been added to the original list of eight after a communication from the World Health Organisation Monday. As per the original protocol, flyers from Saudi Arabia, France, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Tunisia, US and UK are screened and if they are found to have symptoms, quarantined pending test results.

Oman and Kuwait, which are not in the list, have reported MERS cases in recent weeks. However, there is no plan at the moment to broaden the list any further, health ministry sources said.

“We already have detailed guidelines in place for MERS screening. There is no formal alert from WHO yet for the Gulf outbreak, so we are continuing with those guidelines. Travellers who complain of cough, fever, shortness of breath or have come in contact with any person suffering from such illness are taken to the airport health officer and then to designated hospitals — in Delhi, it is the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital,” said Dr Jagdish Prasad, director general of health services.

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