A year has passed since the
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in the
Republic of Korea. This 2015 outbreak led to a better
understanding of
healthcare infection control. The first Korean
patient infected by
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (
MERS-CoV) was diagnosed on May 20, 2015, after he returned from
Qatar and
Bahrain. Thereafter, 186 Korean people were infected with the
MERS-CoV in a short
time through
human-to-
human transmission. All these cases were linked to
healthcare settings, and 25 (13.5 %) infected
patients were
healthcare workers.
Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the
MERS-CoV isolate found in the Korean
patient was closely related to the
Qatar strain, and did not harbor
transmission efficiency-improving
mutations. Nevertheless, with the same infecting
virus strain,
Korea experienced the largest
MERS-CoV outbreak outside the Arabian Peninsula, primarily due to the different characteristics of
population density and the healthcare system. We aimed to
review the epidemiological features and existing
knowledge on the Korean MERS outbreak, and suggest
methods to prevent
future epidemics.