As Wuhan virus fever takes hold of the public’s imagination, Thai health officials said Tuesday afternoon that a 32-year-old British tourist who fell ill on the resort island of Phi Phi does not have the potentially fatal disease.
Ash Shorley, who reportedly fell ill after arriving in Thailand in late December, has been the subject of breathless reports indicating he might have been infected with the virus that has killed at least four people since it emerged in Wuhan, China last month.
Phuket’s top public health official, Thanit Sermkaew, told the Phuket News today that Shorley did not have the disease.
A GoFundMe page created Jan. 10 said he had been hospitalized with “a flu virus that has resulted in a collapsed lung and the possible need for an operation to remove the infected part of the lungs.”
Disease Control Department Director Sophon Iamsirithavorn today said no record could be found indicating Shorley had traveled to Wuhan. He said the public shouldn’t be alarmed.
Two people traveling from Wuhan infected with the virus have been detected at Bangkok’s international airport and placed in hospital quarantine in recent days.
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