U.S. health authorities advised health care workers Thursday to ask their patients whether they have recently traveled to South Korea where the MERS virus has claimed 10 lives over the past weeks.
Since the discovery of the first MERS case in South Korea last month, the virus has spread quickly, with 122 confirmed cases and 10 deaths as of Thursday, making the country the worst-hit after Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory came a week after it issued a travel notice that put South Korea at “Level 1,” or the “Watch” category, the lowest of the three-step advisory system, which calls for practicing the usual precautions, such as washing hands.
The CDC said the criteria for patients under investigation for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome have been revised to include those who have been in a health care facility as a patient, worker or visitor in South Korea “within 14 days before symptoms onset.” (Yonhap)
