In what has been a maligned response to its own Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak, South Korea has now placed more than 1,300 people in quarantine for possible infections.
According to CNN, South Korea confirmed Wednesday they had 30 confirmed MERS cases, two of which resulted in a patient's death. The outbreak has now grown to become the second largest behind the one in Saudi Arabia, where MERS was first noticed.
Alimuddin Zumla, a professor of infectious diseases and international health at University College London, co-authored a paper published in The Lancet analyzing what is presently known of MERS.
"The first case of MERS was reported almost three years ago, and yet the disease remains a serious health threat to the global community, with many basic questions ... unanswered," he told Reuters. "We need more global attention and more international collaboration. They should get a multi-disciplinary team over to help sequence the [genes of] the virus and see if it's becoming more virulent. They should do that as soon as possible."
Ben Neumann, a virologist at Britain's Reading University, pointed to Saudi Arabia significantly lowering its MERS cases in the years since their outbreak thanks to a high level of transparency. He told Reuters South Korea will need to do the same.
"As the Saudis have (now) shown, an active, transparent response is not just good public health, it is good public policy," he said.
MERS made its way to South Korea when a 68-year-old returned home from the Middle East, Reuters noted. Since, the country has quarantined anyone and everyone who may have come in close contact with patients with confirmed cases. MERS is worrisome to health officials as it comes from the same family as SARS.
In addition to the quarantine, more than 200 schools are closing in response to the outbreak.
