Woman dies on flight from Jeddah to KL

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said a post-mortem revealed she had contracted pneumonia but was free of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

"She had symptoms of fever, cough and breathing difficulty for three days while in the Holy Land but did not get any treatment.

"In fact, the family also said the victim had undergone treatment for asthma, high blood pressure and heart problem before performing the umrah," he said in a statement here today.

Dr Noor Hisham said the body was sent to the Serdang Hospital where samples for screening for MERS-CoV were taken and sent to the Sungai Buloh Hospital laboratory.

"The preliminary results of the post-mortem found the victim negative from MERS-CoV but had pneumonia. However, we are still waiting for the final result of the post-mortem to find out the true cause of death," he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said all 107 passengers and 12 crew, who were on board the aircraft with the victim, had also undergone screening for MERS-CoV. Three of them had slight fever while one had cough.

"The four were given symptomatic treatment, briefed on preventive measures and advised to seek treatment if they were not cured in 14 days after the date of arrival," he said.

On April 13, Malaysia recorded its first death from MERS-CoV after a 54-year-old man died, following a bad case of pneumonia after being confirmed infected by the virus.

The man, from Batu Pahat, Johor had performed the umrah in March and complained of fever and breathing difficulty, about 10 days after returning home.