Effect of Information Disclosure Policy on Control of Infectious Disease: MERS-CoV Outbreak in South Korea

Noh, Jin-Won; Yoo, Ki-Bong; Kwon, Young Dae; Hong, Jin Hyuk; Lee, Yejin; Park, Kisoo

MERS-CoV crisis not only exerted massive social and economic impact on South Korea, but also revealed drawbacks in South Korean public health and infection control of the healthcare system. 2 of 7 Large-scale MERS-CoV infection in South Korea occurred by intra-and inter-hospital transmission [6] . The first MERS-CoV patient was exposed to other patients, healthcare providers, and visitors during his first hospital visit due to inadequate management of patients with infectious diseases in South Korea [5] . Clearly, central and municipal governments failed to deal with the current MERS-CoV epidemic. They also failed to control private hospitals. Consequently, the basic cause of the spread of MERS-CoV by infected patients as they moved throughout the country was associated with governments' initial countermeasures.