Thanks to James Manheim for tweeting the link to this May 6 Jakarta Post report: Indonesian suspected to have died of MERS post-umrah.
A man died in Medan, North Sumatra on Monday after contracting what seems to be the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus.
After returning from umrah (minor haj) in Saudi Arabia, the 54-year-old, identified as KS, had been treated at Adam Malik General Hospital before passing away.
Hospital spokesperson Sairi Saragih said that KS had been admitted to the hospital at 10:20 a.m. and passed away at around 2:35 p.m. from what the doctors said was a disease similar to MERS.
"He contracted symptoms such as difficulty breathing, fever and a cough, which are all symptoms of MERS. However, the patient passed away before we were able to confirm if it was MERS," she said at the hospital on Monday.
Sairi explained that KS had initially been treated at the Permata Bunda Hospital, but was later referred to Adam Malik General Hospital.
Umar Zein, one of the doctors who treated KS at Permata Bunda, said that he had been admitted on Saturday evening.
“This is the first suspected case of MERS in Indonesia. Due to that, we simply cannot handle this alone, which is why we referred him to the Adam Malik General Hospital," Zein told The Jakarta Post.
According to his family's statements, KS' health had drastically declined after returning to Indonesia from Saudi Arabia, he said.
"Just one day after he returned, the patient was admitted to a hospital. MERS is extremely dangerous because patients deteriorate quickly," Zein said.
