Although the World Health Organization in mid-June said that the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in South Korea is not an international public health emergency, it stated that it "is a wake-up call and that in a highly mobile world, all countries should always be prepared for the unanticipated possibility of outbreaks of this and other serious infectious diseases." Japan needs to learn take steps to prevent a domestic outbreak based on the assumption that efforts to quarantine travelers suspected of being infected with the virus at ports of entry cannot be 100 percent effective.
The MERS coronavirus was first discovered in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Common symptoms include a high fever, coughing and shortness of breath following an incubation period ranging from two days to three weeks. Pneumonia is also common among MERS patients. The virus is spread through coughing and sneezing, but it is believed to not be as infectious as the influenza virus.
More than 1,300 people, mainly in the Middle East, are reported to have been infected with MERS and the WHO places the disease's fatality rate at around 36 percent. But the true fatality rate could be lower because some infected people may not even be aware that they have the virus as their symptoms are mild or nonexistent.