In response to a Korean outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, commonly known as MERS Co-V, the Tennessee Department of Health issued an alert to healthcare providers on Friday, June 12, urging clinicians to ask their patients about recent travel, to look for evidence of the illness in patient assessments, and to share their findings and information with public health officials.

“While we remain vigilant and ready to respond rapidly should the need arise, at this time there are no known cases of MERS Co-V in Tennessee,” said TDH Commissioner John Dreyzehner, MD, MPH. “Our healthcare partners have been asking the critical travel history questions for many months, and we are simply reminding them to heighten their index of suspicion and to remain operationally ready to assess any such patient.”

For more information about the current situation in Korea and China, see World Health Organization information at who.int/emergencies/mers-cov/en.