Subscribe
E-Paper
By Jung Min-ho
Infectious disease experts from Saudi Arabia will visit Korea to help the country cope with an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the Ministry of Health Welfare said Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters, Kwon Deok-cheol, a ministry official, said a group of experts in disease control and prevention from Saudi Arabia's health ministry will arrive here today to share their experience and knowledge about the killer virus.
"Saudi Health Minister Khalid Al-Falih offered to help first," he said. "He wanted to deploy a team here as early as possible."
This came after Al-Falih, who is also president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, a Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas company, sent a letter to Health Minister Moon Hyung-pyo, who is clearly struggling to contain the virus.
It is unknown what the Saudi team will specifically do.
Since the virus was discovered in Saudi Arabia in 2012, 450 people have died and more than 500 have recovered, according to the nation's health ministry.
Since he took the minister post on May 1, Al-Falih has led the battle against the epidemic in the country, in cooperation with the World Health Organization.
