MERS virus in South Korea is still very low risk for travellers

While there are additional cases of the respiratory MERS virus being diagnosed daily in South Korea, of the 154 patients diagnosed so far, 71 (46 percent) became infected while hospitalized where MERS cases were treated, 57 (37 percent) became infected while visiting hospitalized patients, and 26 (17 percent) cases have occurred in hospital personnel who were caring for MERS patients without adequate protection.

Advice

Unless a traveller becomes hospitalized in a South Korean institution where people with the MERS virus are being treated, OR, unless the traveller is visiting patients in a hospital caring for MERS patients, OR, unless the traveller is a health care worker in a hospital caring for MERS cases, the risk is extremely low. There is no scientific reason to cancel trips to South Korea, and the World Health Organization does not recommend any travel restrictions.