Indonesia Yet to Issue Travel Advisory to Middle East

Jakarta (Antara) - Despite the threat of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV), the Indonesian Government has not advised against traveling to Saudi Arabia or other Middle East countries, according to Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi. "Indonesian citizens are still allowed to make a trip to the Middle East countries, although MERS-CoV is still endemic there," the minister said during her working visit to South Sumatra on Friday. She noted that Indonesians could travel to the Middle East or the holy land to perform the hajj, though they were requested to abide by health-related instructions there. "The MERS-CoV threat in the Middle East is real, but the people do not need to panic, because those who want to perform the small hajj will be given information on what to anticipate," the minister said. The MERS-CoV disease in the Middle East has raised international alarm in recent weeks, with a surge in infections and deaths in Saudi Arabia. According to a Reuters report, Saudi officials confirmed 26 more MERS cases and 10 deaths over the weekend, bringing the toll in the kingdom to 339 confirmed cases, of which 102 have been fatal. There is currently no cure or vaccine for MERS - a severe respiratory disease which causes coughing, fever, shortness of breath, and can lead to pneumonia and kidney failure. But in studies published in two leading scientific journals, scientists from the United States, China and Hong Kong said they had found several so-called neutralising antibodies that were able to prevent a key part of the virus from attaching to receptors that allow it to infect human cells. Antibodies are proteins made by the immune system that recognise foreign viruses and bacteria. A neutralising antibody is one that not only recognizes a specific virus, but also prevents it from infecting host cells, preventing the spread of the disease in an infected person. (*)