Symptoms & Complications
France, Italy, South Korea, Tunisia and the United Kingdom have also reported local transmission among close contacts who have not travelled to the Middle East.
The outbreak in South Korea, which began in May 2015, was the largest outbreak of MERS-CoV outside of the Middle East. No new cases have been reported since July 4, 2015.
For the latest updates on MERS-CoV, including the total number of cases and deaths, please visit the World Health Organization’s websiteExternal link.
The current understanding of MERS-CoV is that the virus has spread to humans from direct or indirect contact with infected camels or camel-related products (e.g. raw camel milk). Ongoing studies are underway to better understand this. Some of the infections have occurred in groups of individuals in close contact with one another (e.g. within the same household) and an increasing number of infections have occurred in health care settings among patients and health care workers, indicating the importance of following strict infection control practices. This suggests that the virus can spread between humans, however, there has been no sustained person-to-person transmission and the risk of contracting this infection is still considered to be low.
Coronaviruses are the cause of the common cold but can also be the cause of more severe illnesses including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). At this time, there is still more to learn about this strain of coronavirus. People who have been infected with MERS-CoV have experienced influenza-like illness with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. Many have also had gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea.
The World Health Organization continues to work with relevant ministries of health and other international partners to support investigations to gain a better understanding of the disease and its risks. There continues to be no travel restrictions as the risk to travellers remains low.