On July 28, 2015, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) removed the MERS travel notice for South Korea as the outbreak in South Korea has been brought under control and no new case was reported during the past 23 days. In addition, as no MERS case had been reported in Bahrain where South Korea’s first MERS case visited, Taiwan CDC also remove the MERS travel notice for Bahrain. As most of the MERS cases reported to date were confirmed in the Middle East, travelers planning to visit countries in the Middle East are urged to pay attention to personal hygiene, respiratory protection and hand cleanliness and avoid visiting any farms and all direct contact with camels, including drinking un-pasteurized camel milk, to reduce the risk of infection.

Since the first case was confirmed in South Korea on May 20, as of July 28, a cumulative total of 186 MERS cases, including one confirmed in Guandong Province, China and 36 deaths, have been confirmed in South Korea. Since the last confirmed case announced on July 5, no new case had been reported for 23 consecutive days. Moreover, all contacts have been removed from quarantine. It is determined that a reoccurrence of the outbreak is unlikely. On the other hand, the South Korean government had also announce the outbreak was over. Hence, Taiwan CDC removed the MERS travel notice for South Korea.

According to WHO, during September 2012 and July 5, 2015, a total of 1,374 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 490 related deaths, have been announced. Thus far, MERS-CoV has been reported in 26 countries. The majority of the cases were reported in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar. Among these countries, Saudi Arabia has reported the most cases. In addition, most cases have travel history to these affected areas prior to their disease onset. Between September 2012 and July 27, 2015, Taiwan has reported 91 suspected MERS-CoV cases and MERS-CoV infection has been eliminated in all of them. Currently, Taiwan CDC has issued a travel notice of Level 2: Alert for MERS-CoV to Saudi Arabia, and a travel notice of Level 1: Watch for MERS-CoV to UAE, Jordan, Qatar, Iran, and Oman.」

People planning to travel overseas during the summer vacation are advised to visit the outpatient travel clinic at 26 contracted hospitals in the nation to seek medical advice 2 to 4 weeks prior to their trip. Travelers planning to visit affected areas are urged to avoid visiting any farms and all direct contact with camels, including drinking un-pasteurized camel milk, to reduce the risk of infection. If influenza-like symptoms such as fever, cough or general discomfort within 14 days after returning to Taiwan from affected areas, please put on a mask immediately, call the toll-free hotline, 1922, be sure to follow the hotline operator’s instructions while seeking medical assistance, and voluntarily inform the physician of relevant travel and exposure history. For more information, please visit the Taiwan CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922 (or 0800-001922).