(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) The Hong Kong government on Tuesday issued a warning against travel to South Korea amid an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) there.
"The Food and Health Bureau advises Hong Kong residents to avoid non-essential travel to Korea, including leisure travel," the city government said in its press release, adding that the Bureau will closely monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, the Health Department urged Hong Kong travelers in South Korea and the Middle East should avoid unnecessary visits to health-care facilities. "In addition, travelers to the Middle East should avoid going to farms, barns or markets with camels, and avoid contact with sick persons and animals, especially camels, birds or poultry," it added.
In 2003, Hong Kong was hardly hit by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak with some 300 deaths, which is triggered by a coronavirus same as MERS. There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease, which has a fatality rate of about 40 percent.
On Tuesday, the South Korean government confirmed seventh death from MERS and reported eight new cases, raising the number of infections to 95. With newly confirmed cases, South Korea has the second-biggest number of people diagnosed with the virus after Saudi Arabia, which has reported over 1,000 cases since the Kingdom reported the world's first case in 2012
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