CDC Travel Advisory ? MERS In The Arabian Peninsula

[Shiloh]

hat-tip: Mike Coston
Source: http://afludiary.blogspot.ca/2014/05/cdc-travel-advisory-mers-in-arabian.html

Saturday, May 03, 2014
CDC Travel Advisory ? MERS In The Arabian Peninsula

# 8563


With the discovery this week of the first imported case of MERS into the United States (see CDC Briefing On MERS In US: Audio & Transcript), the CDC has updated their travel advice to the Middle East, and are advising international travelers to observe and practice enhanced precautions when in the region.


An `Alert? is a second tier notice, above `Watch? but below `Warning?. Travel notices are published the CDC?s Traveler?s Health Website.



The CDC considers countries in the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding areas to include: Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen...

 

[Shiloh]

Re: CDC Travel Advisory ? MERS In The Arabian Peninsula

Link to the Alert: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/alert/coronavirus-arabian-peninsula-uk

 

[Shiloh]

Re: CDC Travel Advisory ? MERS In The Arabian Peninsula

I would like to add the following advice on what to do if you are sick after traveling to the mid-east:

Call your doctor or a hospital ER room and explain the situation before your visit so that they can minimize the risk of spread to health care workers or patients in a waiting room. They should be able to give you instructions on what to do before your arrival at the facility.

 

[Giuseppe]

Re: CDC Travel Advisory ? MERS In The Arabian Peninsula

I would like to add the following advice on what to do if you are sick after traveling to the mid-east:

Call your doctor or a hospital ER room and explain the situation before your visit so that they can minimize the risk of spread to health care workers or patients in a waiting room. They should be able to give you instructions on what to do before your arrival at the facility.

[Source: ECDC, full PDF document: (LINK). Continue from the above post.]


(...)


Options for action

The seventh update of the rapid risk assessment on 24 September 2013 provides options for actions on case finding, laboratory testing, reporting, contact tracing, infection control and travel advice [18]. These options for actions remain valid and can be found in the annex.

In addition:

• Visitors to and EU residents of the Arabian Peninsula should:
  • Follow general travel health precautions that lower the risk of infection in general, including illnesses such as influenza and traveller?s diarrhoea. This includes:
    • Wash hands often with soap and water. When hands are not visibly dirty, a hand rub can be used.
    • Adhere to good food-safety practices, such as avoiding undercooked meat and unpasteurised milk (especially from camels) or food prepared under unsanitary conditions, and properly washing fruits and vegetables before eating the.
    • Maintain good personal hygiene.
    • Avoid unnecessary contact with farm, domestic, and wild animals, especially camels.
    • Use appropriate precautions when in close contact with case-persons presenting with acute respiratory illness, diarrhoea or other potentially infectious diseases.
  • Consult their physician if suffering major medical conditions (e.g. chronic diseases such as diabetes, chronic lung or renal disease, immunodeficiency) that can increase the likelihood of illness including MERS-CoV infection, or contact with healthcare facilities during travel.
• Returning travellers to EU/EEA Member States should:
  • If developing acute illness with severe respiratory symptoms or diarrhoea, advise the healthcare providers in advance of the possibility of exposure to MERS-CoV on the Arabian Peninsula, in order to ensure appropriate measures are taken and if needed, testing considered.
  • Not travel if acutely ill with an infectious disease.
• The international public health community and affected countries could:
  • Urgently provide support for an outbreak assessment to minimise the possibility of widespread human-to-human transmission in the community.
  • Encourage and support as urgent, studies to describe and determine modes and sources of transmission for MERS-CoV, in particular in the animal (/camel)-human interface, among primary cases of clusters and in the healthcare facilities.
  • Epidemiological studies, such as cohort or case-control studies are well suited for such assessments.
  • Encourage and support as urgent, observational clinical studies to determine optimal management of patients in order to improve outcomes.
  • Ensure that appropriate serum samples (positive and negative controls) are available for international standardisation of serological tests.
  • Encourage serological surveys among close contacts of cases and in affected settings.
  • Ensure that adequate numbers of virus isolates are sequenced and submitted to publicly available databanks, such as GenBank throughout the evolving epidemic.
  • Improve timely and transparent risk communication practices in affected areas.
• EU/EEA Member States could:
  • Review laboratory and healthcare preparedness for large clusters of MERS-CoV presenting in their healthcare systems.
  • Sensitise healthcare workers to the possibility of MERS-CoV presenting in EU hospitals.
  • Familiarise public health professionals, healthcare workers and risk communication experts with available guidance (see annex and 7th RRA update).