CALASIAO—The two overseas Filipino workers (OFW) from the Middle East who recently came home here and were suspected to have possibly been afflicted with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have been cleared of the disease.

Dr. Anna Ma. Teresa de Guzman, provincial health officer, said the two suspected cases are “asymptomatic” and the Department of Health sent their blood samples to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, which tested negative.

“So far, it’s negative… Pangasinan is still negative (of MERSCov),” De Guzman assured.

MERS-CoV, initiatlly known as Novel coronavirus 2012, was first reported in 2012 following an outbreak of a new strain of flu.

As of 16 April 2014, MERS-CoV cases have been reported in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, and the Philippines.--Tita Roces

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