MERS Virus South Korea: Potential Worldwide Epidemic?

After the outbreak of the Ebola virus, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus has been posing a threat to the human community.

The MERS virus was discovered for the first time in Saudi Arabia, and this problem stands out to be underlined now after the major outbreak in South Korea that has killed nineteen people.

So, the question remains as to, is there any cure/ vaccination for this dangerous virus? Why is there an inadequacy of information regarding the MERS virus?

The major problem that countries face is the lack of coherency of information across the borders. Nations fear that once their State is identified to be affected by any dangerous, communicable virus that might give a major harm to their trading and tourist activities.

So, the best way to protect their interest is by maintaining silence about the entry of the virus. Further, the MERS virus has neither cure nor any vaccination. Research about the MERS virus is very minimal and not much is known about the virus.

One local health official told Nature, that, the virus's emergence is Seoul is also a reminder that there are huge gaps in knowledge of the MERS corona virus. Researchers still don't know exactly how MERS spreads, how long people remain infectious, or how best to treat those who get the virus.

Helen Branswell, said, "Egyptian Virologist Ali Zaki teamed up with the Netherlands' renowned Erasmus Medical Centre to identify the virus that had sickened and killed a Saudi Arabian man in June 2012. That it was Zaki, not the Saudi health ministry, who revealed the existence of the new SARS like virus, turned out to be impolitic. He was quickly stripped to his Saudi job and left the country.

Since then information about MERS has systematically either been hoarded, mishandled or perhaps not even collected at all. That has left the worlds still unable to answer key questions about MERS and how occasionally infects people.