* Mother Tongue guide is located on the bottom.
◎ What is the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)?
■ The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a severe acute respiratory disease
caused by the infection of Coronavirus.
■ Recently, there are patients infected by MERS mainly in the Arabian Peninsula of the Middle East
and the disease has been designated as MERS;
Coronavirus is a new type of virus which could not be found in the human body
◎ Outbreak Status
■ After the first report of breakout in September 2012,
there have been a total of 1154 patients confirmed in 24 countries,
including Saudi Arabia, 471 of which have died.
- Most of those patients were from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,
and the others mainly involved cases of the infection while travelling in Saudi Arabia.
* Nations with disease outbreak: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Egypt,
Yemen, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Tunisia, Malaysia, Philippines, United States
■ Ministry of Health and Welfare (Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention) is paying close attention to
the overseas outbreak trends of MERS and response situations of each country; and in preparation for local
outbreaks, the organization is now strengthening the immigration quarantine of airport·harbor,
operating a surveillance system, constructing a laboratory diagnosis system,
and continuously maintaining an international cooperation system.
■ industrial workers / overseas Koreans / overseas travelers / infection prevention rules / PR activities
◎ Clinical Characters
■ Incubation Period
The symptoms occur within 5 days (from 2 to 14 days)
■ Symptoms and Signs
Fever, heavy breathing (cough, dyspnea, pneumonia, etc.), ARF (acute renal failure), etc.
■ Infection Route
The exact source of infection and the infection route have not been determined so far;
but there is a possibility of being infected by camels.
■ Patients with chronic diseases and low
immune function reveal bad prognosis.
■ Treatment
The appropriate internal medical treatment should be done according to the symptoms of patients.
■ Prevention
Avoid contacting patients and animals (especially camels) possessing heavy breathing,
and adhere to the general rules for preventing respiratory diseases such as washing your hands
while traveling in the Middle East.
◎ Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS) Q&A
Q. What is the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)?
A. The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a disease caused by the infection of MERS-CoV;
once patients are infected, they can exhibit symptoms such as heavy breathing and fever
(coughing and dyspnea, etc.), and some of the patients are at risk of dying since MERS can evolve
into a severe disease.
Q. Where are the regions that the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is occurring?
A. Currently, most patients are in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Q. How can the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) be infected?
A. So far, the clear source of infection and the infection route have not been determined; but recently,
the research results are reporting the possibility of infection by camels.
Q. What kind of symptoms do patients infected by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) have?
A. A Heavy breathing with fever are usual symptoms.
Q. How can the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) be cured?
A. A vaccine for prevention and treatment (antiviral medications) have not been developed yet, so internal
medical treatments according to symptoms are currently being conducted.
Q. What should I do if I become sick while traveling in the Middle East?
A. If you get sick during your travels, please visit a medical treatment-related organization near the place of
your stay and see a doctor. Or if you contact the consulate of the designated area,
you can seek appropriate help.
◎ MERS Infection Prevention Rules
1. Do not touch any animals (especially camels) and do not visit farms while you travel.
2. Do not consume any rare camel meat and camel milk.
3. Please adhere to individual hygienic rules such as washing your hands.
4. Refrain from visiting crowded places as much as possible.
- If you must visit those places, do not forget to wear a mask.
5. Do not touch your eyes, nose, and mouth with your hands.
6. Avoid any close contact with people who have fever and heavy breathing.
7. If you begin to experience heavy breathing, put on your mask.
8. If you begin to experience any heavy breathing such as fever, coughing, and dyspnea,
immediately visit a medical treatment-related organization and see a doctor.
9. For more detailed information, please refer to the web-site of Korea Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (www.cdc.go.kr) or the web-site of the Overseas Travel Disease Information Center
(http://travelinfo.cdc.go.kr).
If you have any fever or heavy breathing within 14 days after traveling in the Middle East,
you should report your arrival to your native country to the
National Quarantine Station of airport·harbor and visit the local health office
or a medical treatment-related organization.
※ MERS Hotline : 109
※ Travelers Health Information Center : http://travelinfo.cdc.go.kr
* Please use url to copy it.
====================== Mother Tongue Information URL ========================
Bangladesh https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/bd_mersInfo.jsp
Cambodia https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/ca_mersInfo.jsp
China https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/ch_mersInfo.jsp
Indonesia https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/in_mersInfo.jsp
Kyrgyzstan https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/kz_mersInfo.jsp
Mongolia https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/mo_mersInfo.jsp
Myanmar https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/my_mersInfo.jsp
East Timor https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/do_mersInfo.jsp
Uzbekistan https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/uz_mersInfo.jsp
Philippines https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/ph_mersInfo.jsp
Sri Lanka https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/sl_mersInfo.jsp
Thailand https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/th_mersInfo.jsp
Nepal https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/np_mersInfo.jsp
Pakistan https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/pa_mersInfo.jsp
Vietnam https://www.eps.go.kr/mers/vi_mersInfo.jsp
* Please input an upper case "i" at domain address "~mersinfo.jsp" when Input this URL
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