CDC updates MERS prevention guidelines

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidelines this month to advise hospitals on how to prevent and control Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The updated guidance continues to recommend standard, contact, and airborne precautions.

The guidelines also emphasize additional elements of infection control that should be in place to prevent the transmission of any infectious agents including respiratory pathogens such as MERS-CoV in healthcare settings. The Republic of Korea has been investigating an outbreak of MERS since May; the illness was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and has since spread to other countries including the U.S. The CDC confirmed two unrelated cases of MERS in the U.S. in 2014, both of whom were healthcare workers who lived and worked in Saudi Arabia.

Read the CDC guidance.