South Korea infections prompt virus alert in Minnesota

Minnesota health providers are being told to watch for possible cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.

MERS has infected more than 125 people in South Korea in recent weeks. On Friday, the Minnesota Department of Health sent a health alert to care providers reminding them to get a full travel history from patients, including their visits to foreign health care facilities in the Republic of Korea, where the virus has spread easily in hospital settings.

The agency alert "gives them some background and then gives them specific guidance about what symptoms they should look for in persons traveling, from what areas of the world and with what exposure conditions and that type of thing," said Kris Ehresmann, the health department's infectious disease director.

Minnesota has not had a positive test result yet for MERS, but officials say it's important providers ask about international travel when evaluating patients.

Since MERS was first discovered nearly three years ago, the virus has sickened more than 1,200 people. More than a third have died. The World Health Organization's emergency committee has called a meeting to determine if the MERS outbreak is a global health emergency.