Health officials in the Philippines confirmed on Monday July 6, the second Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) case in the country.

Authorities said the 36-year-old foreigner who arrived in the country from the Middle East is under quarantine after testing positive for the MERS Cov virus, TIME reported.

Like Us on Facebook

He began manifesting symptoms last Thursday, and by Saturday he was referred to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Manila where he tested positive.

Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Janette Garin reportedly said the patient had low levels of the virus indicating that he was already recovering. This also means that the risk of transmission to other passengers in the same flight with him is lower.

His nationality and the exact date of his arrival were not disclosed by officials. However, it was revealed that he traveled to Manila on a flight from Dubai, after making a stopover in Saudi Arabia, BBC News has learned.

About 200 passengers who were on the same flight to Manila with the infected foreigner were being tracked.

One of the eight people who had close contact with the patient had started to cough and is also admitted at the RITM. The remaining seven are under home quarantine, according to CNN Philippines.

The first case of MERS CoV in the Philippines was in February, when a Filipino nurse infected with the virus came home after working in the Middle East, as per REUTERS.

The female health worker experienced fever, body pain, coughing and difficulty in breathing during that time, but has since recovered.

MERS, which reportedly has no known cure, is caused by a coronavirus - a type of virus which also causes common colds and SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). In the case of MERS however, patients could suffer pneumonia and kidney failure.

The first case of MERS CoV emerged in the Middle East in 2012 with the first casualty reported in Saudi Arabia in June of the same year. It has since killed almost 500 people worldwide.

Transmission of the disease is still not known for certain. However, the virus is possibly spread through droplets when an infected individual sneezes or coughs.

TagsMERS, MERS-CoV, Disease, outbreak, Science