MERS-CoV in the United States (Ex Saudi Arabia)

On 12 May 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a second confirmed imported case of MERS-CoV infection. The case is an American male who was returning to the US from Jeddah in Saudia Arabia where he is employed as a healthcare worker.

The man travelled by air from Saudi Arabia to Florida in the US via London and Georgia to Orlando on 1 May 2014. The first case of imported MERS-CoV infection was also an American male employed as a healthcare worker in Saudi Arabia, however, the cases are not linked. Both cases are doing well, the first having been released from hospital.

(Via CDC Press Release - accesssed 15/05/14)

Advice for Travellers

The risk associated with novel coronavirus to the general UK population remains extremely low and the risk to travellers to the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding countries remains very low.

Although the source of the virus and the mechanism of transmission is unknown, it would be prudent to try to reduce the general risk of infection while travelling by:

• Avoiding close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections.
• Frequent handwashing, especially after direct contact with ill people or their environment.
• Adhering to food safety and hygiene rules such as avoiding undercooked meats, raw fruits and vegetables unless they have been peeled, or unsafe water.
• Avoiding contact with camels, consuming raw camel milk and camel products and undercooked camel meat.
• People at high risk of severe disease due to MERS-CoV should avoid close contact with animals when visiting farms or barn areas where the virus is known to be potentially circulating. For the general public, when visiting a farm or a barn, general hygiene measures, such as regular hand washing before and after touching animals, avoiding contact with sick animals should be adhered to.
• People with symptoms of acute respiratory infection should practice cough etiquette (maintain distance, cover coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing, and wash hands) and to delay travel until they are no longer symptomatic.

Travellers to the Middle East who develop symptoms either during travel or after their return are encouraged to seek medical attention and to share their history of travel.

Advice for Healthcare Professionals

Consider the possibility of MERS-CoV infection in travellers with fever, cough, shortness of breath, or breathing difficulties, or other symptoms suggesting an infection, and with a recent history (within 14 days) of travel in the Middle East.

If a diagnosis of MERS–CoV infection is considered possible, apply infection prevention and control measures recommended by WHO, or outlined in national guidance, and refer the patient to a special infectious disease unit for further investigation.

• Further information on MERS CoV