MERS is testing Asia’s ability to address emerging diseases

Not long after people in the Republic of Korea began falling ill from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS CoV), a team from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the country’s Ministry of Health and Welfare were dispatched to the scene to assess the situation and formulate a strategy.

The quick reaction was part of a strategy for dealing with dangerous new diseases that countries throughout Asia and the Pacific have been developing for more than a decade. Since 2003, countries in the region have been on alert for the next possible pandemic.