JEDDAH, 24 April 2003 — Mazen Madani Enebsi, a 13-year-old Saudi boy who died a week ago in a Jeddah hospital, could be the Kingdom’s first Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) case, Arab News has learned.

The boy’s death came to light as another case of SARS in the Philippines was reported involving a man who had arrived in the country after setting off from Dammam in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province.

The boy was admitted to Jeddah’s Erfan Hospital suffering from severe pneumonia, and doctors became suspicious enough about the kind of respiratory pneumonia he was suffering from to immediately inform the Ministry of Health.

Dr. Baher Badawi, general manager of Erfan Hospital, confirmed the case to Arab News last night in an exclusive interview.

“Mazen Madani Enebsi was admitted to the hospital with a severe infection,” he explained. “His case was very advanced and he was treated for three days. When we did our lab tests, we suspected it to be a case of SARS.

“Since then, we have been asked by the MOH to report any other patient we fear may be infected with SARS.”

Asked if he could confirm that this was definitely a SARS case, he replied: “I can’t confirm it or deny it, because we don’t have the equipment to do the necessary research. It’s not available to us or many of the other hospitals in the Kingdom.”

Dr. Badawi confirmed that this was the only suspected SARS case at Erfan Hospital, denying rumors that there are three other patients suffering from the disease being treated there.

Sources close to the boy’s family told Arab News yesterday that MOH officials had ordered family members not to wash the boy’s body in preparation for his burial, but said that no attention has yet been paid either to the boy’s family home or school.

Dr. Talal Ekram, assistant director at the Directorate of Health Affairs, last night denied that the boy was the Kingdom’s first SARS case.

“We believe the streptococcus bacteria was the cause of death”, he told Arab News. “People should not be scared. We would never try to conceal such important information.”

Asked about an Asian maid who had joined the dead boy’s family two weeks before he died, Dr. Talal said that she is Sri Lankan “and that country is not listed among those with SARS cases.”

Meanwhile in Manila, a Filipino worker who flew in from Dammam yesterday was rushed to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa City as a “suspected case” of SARS, the Overseas Worker Welfare Administration (OWWA) reported.

Edwin Fortuito, a passenger on board Gulf Air flight GF-154 that arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, reportedly showed signs of SARS when he was subjected to an examination.

According to OWWA sources, Fortuito had been running a fever for 11 days. He was listed as a “suspected SARS case” by OWWA representatives and brought to the RITM for further examination.