Communicating about the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak to the international community and in-country foreigners, Republic of Korea, 2015

Communicating about the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak to the international community and in-country foreigners, Republic of Korea, 2015

Min Won Lee, Jooyoung Sohn, Kidong Park

During the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in 2015, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) of the Republic of Korea provided outbreak information targeting international visitors and foreign residents through multiple channels. The MOHW created a MERS portal website in Korean and English on 10 June 2015; in addition, the existing MOHW website provided English-language press releases beginning 28 May. A toll-free telephone hotline also started service in English on 12 June; it expanded to include 18 other foreign languages on 15 June. This report describes the usage of these multi-language communication channels during this MERS outbreak.

2016

MERS-CoV, Korea MERS-CoV, risk communications, MERS-CoV outbreak

DOI: 10.5365/wpsar.2015.6.4.002

Western Pacific Surveillance and Response

World Health Organization

Public aspects of medicine, Medicine

EN, ZH