Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (cont.)

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The CDC is monitoring the situation and is currently not advising people to avoid travel to the Arabian Peninsula; however, it is advising travelers to that region to monitor their health, wash their hands with soap and water or alcohol gel, avoid touching their mouth and eyes, and avoid contact with sick people while there. Travelers who develop respiratory illnesses or fever should seek medical attention and inform healthcare personnel of ther travel. They should cover their noses and mouths with a tissue when sneexing or coughing, and then discard the tissue. They should also avoid close contact with others and defer further travel until well.

At this time, the risk to the general population seems small as the virus has not spread easily from person to person, and most people who have been infected are people living in countries of the Arabian Peninsula, returning travelers, or their close contacts. Precautions for travelers are described above.

For more information on the travel alert see http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/alert/coronavirus-arabian-peninsula-uk. For more information on MERS-CoV, see http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/MERS/faq.html.

REFERENCE:

United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)." May 17, 2014. <http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/MERS/faq.html>.