An outbreak of Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in South Korea has claimed 19 lives over the last four weeks. One hundred and fifty additional cases have been reported, all of which can be traced back through a single chain of transmission that originated with a 68-year-old man who traveled to Saudi Arabia (where outbreaks of the virus are primarily concentrated), experienced non-specific respiratory symptoms and was diagnosed with MERS after visiting multiple Seoul hospitals.
The virus, first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012, has resulted in 1289 confirmed cases worldwide and has been responsible for an estimated 455 deaths. MERS passes through the respiratory secretions of an infected individual and manifests in general respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough and difficulty breathing. Because of the ease of transmission and initially non-specific symptoms, the virus spreads rapidly via healthcare centers where individuals with the virus infect other patients and healthcare professionals before receiving a diagnosis.
Transmission in South Korea can be traced through 44 hospitals with Samsung Medical Center in Seoul at the center of over 50 cases. In a public statement, the hospital took responsibility for failing to “properly manage emergency-room staff” who were exposed to the virus by a patient who spent multiple days in the emergency ward. The hospital’s president, Song Jae-hoon, issued a public apology for it’s role in the outbreak: “We sincerely apologize with our heads bent to the people for causing great concern as Samsung Medical Center became the center [of] the spread of MERS.” Additionally, the hospital has closed to outpatients and new admissions in order to prevent further spread of the virus.
According to the World Health Organization, national response to the outbreak has focused on early identification, isolation and contact tracing of over 3,690 individuals exposed to the virus. A majority of those individuals are being monitored in their homes while 227 are being monitored in healthcare facilities. Additionally, Korea’s national public health authorities partnered with the WHO to obtain more information regarding the “epidemiological pattern, the characteristic of the virus and clinical features.” On June 10, Korea also held a national screening day on which 3,000 healthcare providers performed tests to detect any new cases.
Although the virus was previously concentrated around the Arabian Peninsula, the outbreak in Korea is causing other nations to increase precautions. Hong Kong advised travelers to avoid unnecessary tourism to South Korea and began conducting airport temperature checks of passengers returning from Korea.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an advisory recommending that healthcare providers be particularly conscious of potential MERS symptoms in patients who have recently traveled to Korea or the Middle East. Despite this precaution, the CDC is not currently discouraging travel to these regions but does recommend that travelers practice increased caution if they visit healthcare facilities in the Arabian Peninsula.
There have only been two confirmed cases of MERS-CoV in the United States, both involving healthcare professionals who worked in Saudi Arabia and were diagnosed in May of 2014. Both individuals fully recovered and the CDC maintains, “the risk of MERS to the general public in this country remains very low.”
For more information on MERS, see this feature by the CDC.
