Israel girds for possible MERS virus outbreak

Despite a number of confirmed cases in neighboring Jordan and Egypt, the deadly disease has not reached Israel

The Health Ministry is set to publish guidelines for healthcare professionals explaining how to identify and treat Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in the event of an outbreak of the deadly virus in Israel.

MERS is considered a deadlier cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which appeared in 2003 and killed more than 800 people around the world. There is no vaccine against the MERS-causing virus, which has a 35 percent mortality rate.

“As a healthcare system, we must be ready,” Health Ministry Director Prof. Arnon Afek told Channel 10 Wednesday morning.

Despite a number of confirmed cases in neighboring Jordan and Egypt, MERS has not reached Israel.

Afek said that even though there had been no sign of the virus in Israel, the guidelines needed to be circulated to hospitals and clinics across the country as a precautionary measure.

According to Afek, the guidelines stipulate that anyone with a fever and respiratory difficulties who has visited South Korea or the Arabian Peninsula recently should be hospitalized in an isolation ward immediately.

After South Korea announced its 20th death from MERS on Wednesday, the World Health Organization urged all countries to be more vigilant.

“This outbreak is a wake-up call,” WHO said after an emergency committee meeting Tuesday. “All countries should always be prepared for the unanticipated possibility of outbreaks like this and other serious infectious diseases.”

Last year, the Health Ministry was concerned that the thousands of Israeli and Palestinian Muslims traveling to Mecca and Medina for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan could return home infected with the virus. However, thanks to advanced warnings and face masks worn by many of those on pilgrimage, no cases of the infection were reported.

Since the discovery of MERS in 2012, some 1,170 cases of the virus have been reported worldwide and about 480 of the patients have died, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

AFP contributed to this report.