BA passengers alerted after suspected case of Mers virus

Wednesday, 06 May, 2014 0

Passengers on a British Airways flight to Heathrow have been alerted by health officials about a suspected case of the Mers respiratory virus.

Public Health England said the risk of infection was "extremely low" but has advised passengers on BA flight 262 from Riyadh on April 24 that a passenger on that flight has since been admitted to a US hospital.

The man, believed to be a health care worker from Saudi Arabia, stopped at Heathrow before flying on to Chicago.

According to the BBC, passengers sitting near him have been contacted and anyone else who was on the flight who starts to feel unwell is advised to call the NHS 111, particularly if they have respiratory symptoms.

Mers – short for Middle East respiratory syndrome – is believed to have killed over 100 people since an outbreak began in 2012.

It has an incubation period of up to 14 days, so symptoms starting after May 9 would not be related.

Bev

Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.