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Philippines confirms its second case of MERS

Authorities are also monitoring eight people who had close contact with the 36-year-old man who tested positive for the virus.

By Stephen Feller

MANILA, July 6 (UPI) -- The Philippines has confirmed it's second case of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, after a 36-year-old man who'd flown there from Dubai, tested positive for the virus.

Officials said in a press conference that the patient was on the 14th day of the virus' incubation period, which lowers the risk of it having been transmitted to other people on the flight.

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Although eight other people are currently being quarantined because they had close contact with the patient, only one of them showed symptoms of the virus, Janette Garin, health secretary at the department of health in the Philippines said in a press release. Authorities are awaiting the results of that test.

The 36-year-old man began showing symptoms on July 2 and on July 4 and was admitted to the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine where he tested positive for MERS, according to GMA News. The man then flew from Dubai to the Philippines. Authorities are also tracking down 200 people who were on a flight from Saudi Arabia which he boarded after a stopover there.

Garin reported that the man already is recovering due to a low amount of the virus in his body.

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This is the second confirmed case of MERS in the Philippines after a nurse, also arriving from Saudi Arabia, tested positive for it. She was declared clear of it within the same month.

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